The Wizard Bearer
by KingOuma
Summary: During the summer before his tenth birthday, the Dursleys decide on a picnic day out in the country, taking Harry with them. Unknown to them a gift from the heavens that was to crash across the pond makes it way towards them instead. Now with the power of magic and advanced technology the future set upon Harry changes forever.
1. You wanted the stars, Harry

The Wizard Bearer

During a summer, the Dursleys decide on a picnic day out in the country, taking Harry with them. Unknown to them a gift from the heavens that was to crash across the pond makes it way towards them instead. Now with the power of magic and advanced technology the future set upon Harry changes forever.

* * *

"Talking" -Normal Voices

"**Talking"** -Alien Voices

"_Talking" _Ommitrix Voice

_§Talking§ -_ParseltongueVoices

* * *

A few things first, my Harry is smarter than Ben. Obviously most heroes are. Not to say Ben is an idiot, but he doesn't use his brain as much as he should –at least in the beginning, even after having it for that summer of the first season or five years later or that mess that is Omniverse. We all know Harry has brains, and he is a better boy when Hermione has him learning showing that his learning curve is high. I want to show that in this.

Also for my sanity's sake the muggle schools start and end about the same time as Hogwarts. You try looking at Academic terms, PS Calendar, Surrey schools and time placement for the chapters. I spent two hours without noticing on it, before calling quits and just making it up as closely as I could without sounding idiotic. You know like a certain writer that couldn't even check that year's calendar for the whole seven books.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Did Grandpa Max know from the beginning what Ben's watch did and tried to keep it hidden? If so, I don't own Harry Potter or Ben10.

* * *

"Come on, come on." Dudley's voice sounded to my right as he went on looking yearningly for the school bell to sound. He gave his best friend Piers Polkins a look that I knew too well. Those two were part of the school's bully group and I had been for as long as I could remember bullied by them. It didn't matter that Dudley was actually my cousin. His parents, my aunt and uncle, were very rude to me and he, as one growing up, learned from them how to treat me and in turn he showed others –with a show of force and coercion- to treat me the same.

To be fair, I had tried to call upon teachers to help me out, even those that the school sometimes get temporary to teach, but either they already believe Dudley and his parents more than me, Dudley forces everyone else to lie on his behalf, or they just seem to forget about me, the short-term teachers leaving school without anything been done about it.

So I improvised. My aunt and uncle were clearly blind of their son's tendencies and he wouldn't stop if I pleaded –if anything he got a kick out it. So I planned, as best as a seven year old could, and I made hiding holes, escape routes across the school and to the house –places he and his friends were too fat or big to follow- and began to run the second they were in my view. Never in theirs.

I was good, really good. Sometimes they found me, some hiding holes were a but obvious for even people as dumb as them, other times they didn't caught me until a block or two from the house. Some holes were left behind as I grew, others were destroyed by Dudley and his gang, people, animals or the terrain. So I got better at running, and moving. I jumped and swung like a crazed monkey across obstacles and that very same thing helped cement in other neighbors that I was a troubled boy.

Today was the last day of school and I was determined not to be caught by them. I had a choice, either run out as soon as the bell rang or wait for all of them to leave and look for another way to escape. I decided on the safe route.

As soon as the bell rang, my classmates picked up their bags and ran away, the thumping of feet clearly heard from possibly a block away. I stayed back, shrinking down, making myself seem unimportant. It was easy, automatic. Dudley didn't notice, neither all the other boys from his group. As soon as they were out I waited for the teacher to leave before I started to look at the classroom windows and try to catch where my awful cousin went. He and Piers were by the front school steps, directing the others, probably to find me, and sending them around the school.

"Bugger" I whispered as I saw them leave. I had to take my chance now, if not the image wasn't pretty. I took my stuff and flung it over my shoulder and ran to the back of the school. They would need to go all the way around by either side to get there and I would cut through the school, reaching the teacher's parking lot. Mr. Salisbury had a big truck with a trunk that was broken. Most didn't know about it, but in an earlier escapade I saw him cursing it off. Even had a little way of keeping it locked and opening it.

As I reached the last step I saw none of the teacher out there and went to his car. Got in and locked it. Never knew if they had seen me, but better to not take the chance. The windows were somewhat tinted so if I hid well I could see out there calmly. Now I had to wait.

* * *

I returned to the house minutes after Dudley. The gang called it quits after an hour and I kept to hiding from them at their backs as they went home. Never saw me and I could hear Dudley grumble about wasted opportunity. Something in me shivered when he told them I wouldn't get away at his home, but I was resolute to just stay in my cupboard until dinner. Hopefully by then, he would forget.

Late at dinner I was called from my cupboard. My uncle had some news and he wanted to tell us all.

"As you all know, my work at the company has grown in recent months." That wasn't the only thing that had grown. "and today I finally got why." He looked at us all with excitement. Well, auntie and her precious Dudders, me he looked on with barely suppressed scorn. Hey if he didn't want to look at me, he shouldn't have whaled for me. "I got it. I got it."

Aunt Petunia and us looked confused about it before she asked what he got.

"I got the promotion!" he whooped. It only took us a second to understand –three for Dudley- before Aunt Petunia yelled in glee and Dudley in enjoyment, probably thinking about all the cool toys he would get for his birthday.

Auntie went on, imagining what she could do with all the nice things now, and how she would shove it in the neighboring wives faces –discretely of course. And how she could buy new sheets for their bed and curtains. She went on for a bit more, before Vernon stopped her before she could conjure up anything more that would probably leave us in bankrupt at the year's end.

"Now, since I am now District Manager, I was invited to the yearly summer camping. Each Manager gets to go, and this year we get to go!"

"Oh, Vernon! How wonderful! Well, I'm going have to buy some things: tents, sunscreen, bug spray, sleeping bags-"

"Will I come too?" I interrupted her train of thought, she finally realized I was there and even more realized that they would probably have me go with them. She turned sharply at Vernon, inquiring my answer.

"Vernon?" My uncle looked as if he swallowed a lemon, probably from imagining having me there with his first impression of his family to his superiors. He snapped out of it soon enough and spoke in a condescending voice.

"What do you think, boy? Of course not! This vacation is for proper people like us, and none of your freakishness. No, you, you are staying with Ms. Figg. She can take care of you, because I don't want you anywhere near this house without anyone of us." Dudley looked relieved and satisfied. Petunia was smug. About what, I didn't know, it was as if she had an imaginary tally against someone else, and she was winning.

"Ok." Was all I had to say. And really it didn't bother me a bit about being without them for that time. Sure I was mad he basically told me off, for being a freak, something I have no idea what his talking about. I mean I know that there was that time I was running from Dudley and appeared on the school rooftop or when a mean teacher had her wig turn blue. But in all honesty, I don't see how it was my fault. Dudley was there both times, maybe he did it. And if they were what others called proper, I didn't want to do anything with a whole company of them. Besides, Ms. Figg was a bit weird, but she let me watch the telly or play with her cats. So I wasn't upset by it. "Can I be excused?"

Vernon dismissed me self-satisfied in his speech believing a believed everything he said and I didn't dare contradict his opinion on the matter.

I want back to the cupboard, my cupboard, and closed myself to the darkness, imagining what I would do with that freedom for those scant days, and soon fell to sleep.

* * *

The next few days went for a normal summer for me, with the exception of Aunt Petunia leaving with Dudley everyday to buy their camping objects. I either spent the day in the front lawn cleaning the garden, mowing the lawn, washing the car, or other random instruction given that same day.

A day from their leaving, Ms. Figg called to say she fell and broke her leg, staying at the hospital and couldn't take care of me. Vernon and Petunia were mad, and Dudley displeased. I was too. I bet it was Mr. Tibbles that tripped her, he was always very rebellious. That day Auntie had to do emergency shopping for me, as she couldn't and wouldn't show me to Uncle's superiors in the garb I wore. Funny, cause this is what her son wore first. It was a whirlwind, a headache and something I enjoyed because I got new clothes but I would never under my own control go shopping with a women again!

She got me the essentials and nothing more. Sleepwear, three tee shirts (white, black and green) and two pants, one short and the other for the small gathering at the end of the week. Underwear (new) socks, and the same stuff for camping, although cheaper ones than the other two's.

I was kinda amazed and a bit possessive of it all. Never had I gotten so much in one day and all new to boot. Of course, I kept my cool, and listened extensively at all the rules she gave about keeping it all clean. I almost snorted at that, of course I was going to keep them as clean as possible, they were mine. Instead after she finished I only responded with my most sincere thank you. She actually stopped and gave me and unreadable look, before nodding slowly at kept walking.

The next day the whole house was in a disorder. They had woken up late, and I, for the fun of it, 'forgot' to wake them up. I almost had a beating, but that would throw us back some more time. I did get a row on it in the car, but nothing else. We were mostly silent, they listen to some kind of music I wasn't interested in and I was thinking of a cool dream I had about a flying motorcycle. I almost responded to Dudley's comment about one he saw with my dream, but I remembered that for some reason Uncle Vernon hated unusual things, didn't matter the level of it. So, I kept my mouth shut the rest of the trip.

We got there just after four, and already there were quite a few cars, much nicer than Vernon's, in the parking lot. We took our time getting ready the tent, and when I saw we, I mean me, uncle, and auntie. Dudley had already gone on to meet the other kids. Aunt Petunia had said something about him being a social butterfly, internally I snorted. The poor rich kids were probably giving them all the money they had and their toys. If cooperative he would already have followers that at best just didn't want him to hurt them and at worst were just like him.

We ate, uncle Vernon spoke with many superiors and special clientele. Supposedly they also brought their most valued customers for the past year. After that we slept and woke for the next day. This being a four day camping trip meant that they also had events for children. Pin the tail on the donkey, hide-n-seek, and other fun group activities. Frankly, I didn't like them. I was already out of friends by the time I came to meet them. Dudley had made good on installing fear on them if they played with me, and none dared. Also, I was never for having large numbers all around me. It must be because I became accustomed about it, or just naturally so, but that's the way I am.

I mostly went out in the woods, never far away that I couldn't hear them and never too close that I would be called back. I liked the quiet, aided by animals sounding from some feet away. It gave me a sense of peace I hadn't ever felt in Little Whinging. Soon I fell in a deep contemplation of how it all would be if this was my life all the time. I found a nice, comforting tree, the bark smooth and colorful. I spent the whole morning just looking at the area committing it to memory, looked at area, catalogued what I saw _'leaves, insects, soil, spider' _and oddly enough it was so relaxing I dozed off.

* * *

"Hey there, you ok?" This voice woke me from a nice dream, I couldn't remember it well, but it was nice, and warm. My blinking eyes drew up the image of this girl standing just a scant few feet away. She was dressed casual, with a light blue blouse (I knew about the name because aunt Petunia had commented one time about Number 18'teenage daughter wearing such distasteful clothing. Personally it might have something more to do with the fact the girl was wearing very short shorts.) a pinafore dress (jumper to my American readers), her dirty sandshoes and a book I couldn't read the title of. She had a bushy hair and rather large front teeth.

She seemed to be getting impatient, proven by her tapping feet unto the ground. "Sorry, what?" I answered as eloquently as one could half-dozed off.

"I said, are you ok? I was walking around here and saw your shoes from over there" she waived at someplace to my left and back. "and almost got scared that you were dead or something. You really should be careful. There are some types of insects and snakes over this are that are poisonous or venomous. And while they are rare, you can't be too careful. I read that it almost takes less than a few minutes for some animals to kill humans, so really sleeping here might not have been your best idea."

I was surprised at her long speech; she barely stopped to catch her breath and said it all rather fast that I almost didn't catch it. She was waiting for me to respond, but frankly I didn't know what to say. So I went simple. "And what are you doing here?" Ouch. Ok that didn't come out well. "I mean, thanks and all, but why are you here?" the girl seemed a bit hurt at my first question, but otherwise calmed down after I continued, although she sounded hesitant to say.

"I was here yesterday actually, reading my book. I like to spend my time reading, so being away from other kids helped and this place was perfect for it. Besides… most kids don't like me much." I actually looked surprised at that. She didn't look anything about unpopular. Maybe she wasn't very pretty, but she looked nice. But I could understand where she came from, as Dudley was the same to me. She seemed to be waiting for me to comment on it, so I just urged her to continue. She brightened a bit about that. "My mom, said that I had to spend some time with kids my own age, before I went off to my own world, so that's why I wasn't here earlier. But this was my spot. So, please budge up." She ended it abrasively. Maybe that's why the other didn't like her. And looking at the big book she had she must be very smart.

There was a girl in my school like, an Asian, small girl. She was very smart but ultimately transferred away because she was bullied by the others. I tried to become friends with her, but she had become too shy to hold a conversation or friendship.

I moved a bit, letting her have her space. She plunged rather hard, but said nothing about it. I kept silent, because really the girl came here to read and she kinda seemed too hard to talk to when she had a book covering her face. So I simply continued looking at my surroundings, eventually either she would get up and leave, speak or I'd do so. Evidently, she caved first.

Internally, I smirked. Harry -1, Bushy haired girl -0

"You haven't left yet?" Wow, I see once again why she doesn't have friends.

"Do you want me too?"

She hesitated for a second, unsure how to answer, probably the first time someone said it to her. Ultimately, she declined. Her bushy hair swinging side-to-side with her head.

"No… stay, please." Her whole demeanor changed for a second, before she buried her head once again into the book.. I could see a bit of her face, by her side, obstructed as it was by her hair, and sometimes she would stop roaming the pages, and look ever so slightly at my side, verifying I hadn't left. She'd have a small smile and continue reading.

We would probably never be friends or even meet again. I would have every chance at talking to her blocked by my relatives and she would probably head back to reading her books and forgetting about me. So the small time we spent below that tree was peaceful, uninterrupted and a bit awkward, but I liked it just fine.

A bit later she spoke once again, asking for my name.

"Isn't polite to first introduce yourself first?" I asked. She reddened a bit at that.

Harry -2, Bushy haired girl -0

She cleared her throat and answered. "My name is Hermione Jean Granger, daughter of the Dentists Mr. and Ms. Granger. They buy quality drills from Grunnings, hence why we are here."

Oh, I didn't know uncle Vernon also sold the little ones. "My name is Harry Potter." For some reason her eyes grew wide at that. Wonder why. "I'm here with my uncle and his family because his District Manager for the Surrey area."

"You, you are Harry Potter, THE Harry Potter?" her voice amazed and a bit doubtful.

"Well, that's the only person I know with my name. And what do you mean, THE Harry Potter, I haven't done anything bad if my cousins been saying things about me, no matter what they are –except if I's smarter than him and better looking." She giggled at that. Huh, I made some one laugh without having to be in pain. That's a first.

"Don't play stupid. You know what I'm talking about, the whole world knows –well not the whole _whole _world, but that other whole world. You know?" I only gave her a confused look in return. "Don't play dumb! You know what I'm saying, you are famous, of course you know. I mean, its strange that you would be in this side –the Muggle world- and even more doing something ordinary. The books never have you here or in Surrey. And-"

"Famous? Muggle? Books? What are you talking about?" I interrupted her raving because frankly this girl was scaring the bejesus out of me. While she frowned for having interrupted, her eyes narrowed at my questioning and somehow they seemed to give the vibe that she felt I was lying to her and she was unto me.

"Are you really Harry Potter?"

"Of course I am!" I yelled indignant of her questioning. Who else would I be? And how dare she think I'm not me? Better question would be how or from where does she know me?

"Oh, really?" her tone totally said she didn't believe me. "Well then, show me the scar." The scar, how'd she know about the scar? Where did she found out about it?

"How'd you know about it?" my brain was already working on possible escape routes, and suspicious looks to her and my surroundings. I wasn't fooled; the school gave a seminar on kidnappers. They said that they would find ways to trick kids and kidnap them without knowing until the last moment. There are some people that look really young, just like there are some that look really old like Ms. Taylor, she looked 50 but was really in her thirties. It was possible the same could be said about the reverse, adults that looked young like children.

"From the book, where else?" she said it a bit condescending, as if I was supposed to know. I didn't even know what was happening at the moment! "Well?"

Somehow I get the feeling that in the last few minutes, my imaginary tally has changed to 2-1.

Slowly, and watching everything in my sight, I raised my unruly black hair, I hadn't had a good haircut since before the school ended, and the last time aunt Petunia tried to cut, it grew back over night. Weird, I know, but I never questioned it.

They didn't like it when I had questions.

"You really are…" Her eyes were firmly placed on my scar, and once again I was getting frightened out by her. She snapped back fast enough for it not to become to awkward for her. For me, that moment long passed. A moment passed, where she seemed to be assessing something. And looked like someone had lied to her, just like she looked at me a few moments ago.

"But if you _are_ him, then how come you don't know? You don't look stupid, although looks can be deceiving" a 'Hey!' from me didn't deter her and the tally was 2-2. By know she had gotten up, walking from here to there, in her own world, mumbling all the while, half decipherable things. Honestly, half of them sounded incredible and yet stupid, things about magical creatures, books, spells, wizards, and magic. Finally she stopped pacing, the ground actually had a small impression of her feet, when yet turned sharply to me and questioned (read: ordered). "Do you know about You-Know-Who?" at my blank gaze she asked once more. "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? The one they call Lord Voldemort? Albus Dumbledore? Hogwarts?! Wizards?! Magic?!"

She was hyperventilating a bit at the end, my face must have shown her something because she looked as if she wanted to fall down and yell to the world of it wasn't possible. Or murder someone, I didn't know, too many emotions flashed by and I wasn't an expert on that.

"You sure you are Harry Potter? Sure, sure?"My slow nod confirmed it, because, once again, she was a bit scary right there and I believed that if I spoke she would be pretty starltled. "I can't believe it." My face must have looked affronted because she quickly responded trying to mollify me. "No, no! Not _you, _but that it was a lie. I mean, I've always read books and never have they lied to me. They can't lie, people look for help, and information, and knowledge on them. They aren't supposed to lie!"

She was breathing quite heavily now. And must have let it all out because she was sitting there staring at me, trying to figure out something that even I didn't know of. So, believing it my turn, I asked. "Can you, can you tell me what this is all about?"

I waited for her to calm down, and her breathing returning to normal. She sat there for a few minutes, and I waited in silence. She probably didn't know when to start and was placing her thoughts. Obviously, whatever she had discovered shocked her world. "Last year, I turned eleven." Huh, so she was older than me. "A week before that a strange letter came to my house, the delivery was made by an owl of all things. And the letter was written by this person claiming to be from the Ministry of Magic." At my disbelieving face, she answered. "Yes, I know, my parents and I had the same face. Anyway, it told us that the day after my birthday someone would come by to give me an explanation and tell us something greatly disbelieving." She paused, perhaps not knowing how to say it. "This person came dressed in a decades old dress style that my mom later told me was from the early nineteenth century. She said… well she said that she was a witch. My parents rapidly were dubious of it and tried to get her out of the house because she seemed crazy, but then she asked us to let prove it. So… she did."

I was of the same branch. Either this girl was playing a trick on me, was also crazy, or was telling the truth I simply couldn't tell, yet something in me tried to tell me to shut up and listen and _believe. _

"She took our dining room table and transformed it into a pig. I later knew that was called transfiguration –one of the seven types of spells. And explained how the Magical World long ago decided to hide from Muggle World –that's ours- and live free of the persecution of those times."

"Wait, if they are hidden, wouldn't you telling me be something bad?"

"I was getting to that." She said a bit irritated. "In the late seventeenth century, the International Confederation of Wizards decided to make it official and put it as law. Only those that knew by direct connection or immediate family connection could come and go between sides and know of magic."

"What happened to those that discovered the secret or spilled it?" To me it seemed a little far-fetched that they could keep at it for so long and not have errors or accidents. Mistakes are always made by governments and its people.

"That, well… they erase the memories…" at my shocked expression she continued. "I know how you feel, but well, truthfully they are rather scared of persecution. And while I certainly do not condone it, I don't know how else they could have a choice." She ended it a bit sad. And I could see that ate at her, because it must have been horrible to know that anyone you know might just have their memories erased by these wizards without question. "They give the impression that they would do anything to keep it a secret. The problem was that there were always people that weren't originally part of it. New magical, or as they call us muggle-born, and then they had to include us into their society so that the secret wasn't spilled, but our societies are almost a world apart and problems always rise. I don't know what happens to the muggle-borns that withdraw from the invitation to join that side, but if you had to know how to control your magic then I don't think it would be a good idea to wind them up."

"So they have schools there? And how do you know this stuff?" Because, seriously, some of it sounds a little messed up if you dig deeper into it. I don't think this Magical government would tell all this new magical that they were prone to telling them 'Hey! Just in case you don't want to study with us, well we'll just erase your memories so you never ever remember us and destroy your magic!' no that wouldn't definitively fly.

She blushed a little. "Well, once she had us visit Diagon Alley –that's where they have everything you could shop for- my parents and I then went some more times so that I could get books to read from there so I'd know more about it. Their bookstore is bigger on the inside so they had a lot of collections. Once I finished a few books I went back for more." Here it grew a bit more. "But that's for later. So, yes they have a school for young children and when they reach a certain age then they go there."

"Hermione was it?" she hummed affirmative. "Why are you still telling me this? Am I a wizard?" she nodded once again. "So… why haven't I been told or someone came by?"

"Well" she pressed her lips in thought. "I think they do it before a certain time, in my case and certainly others I was eleven after the time the school started so I was told a whole year before the next time I could enter because they always do it when we celebrate that birthday, so if you turn eleven soon they will send someone to come." She finished happily.

I still doubted much of what she told me. This was too big for me to get. I mean, I'm Harry Potter, just… Harry.

"So" she continued unaware of the turmoil inside me. "a few years ago this really Dark wizard, that was so bad people didn't mention his name wanted to make the Magical world only for those of 'pure-blood'" she even added apostrophes at the words.

"What are pure-bloods?"

"They are those that have always have Magical ancestors in their blood. I read a book by a another muggle-born that wrote it just a few years ago that they are like the rich people on this side. The snotty, rich people that don't like those poorer than them, in this case they don't like muggle-borns. Although not all are like that. Then this Dark wizard terrorized Magical Britain, the war was almost over until something happened."

"What?" Somehow a feeling of dread entered me. A part of me wanted to know, but a smaller one was calling for me to run, to forget her and to never ask that question again. That questions were bad. You were hit if you questions. I was hurt if I questioned.

"You happened, Harry." She whispered. My mouth was dry and I didn't know what to say, so I just kept quiet. And I heard, and I listened as she told me of that day. When on a Halloween night almost ten years ago my parents were found by the Dark wizard and killed. How when he went to turn his wand on me (oh yeah, they use wands. Could it be more stereotypical?) and took to cast a Killing Curse on me, it failed and he was defeated (I noticed how she didn't say he died.). and I was left alone, orphan without parents and the first person in wizard history to survive that spell.

I stayed there, unmoving. Unattentive. If it was true, why wasn't I told? Why would my relatives keep it hidden? Why didn't anyone from there look for me? And why was I left alone with people that hated me?

On a corner of my mind, I noticed Hermione sit by my side and tentatively put her hand around me, in what I could only imagine was to comfort me. I don't know because I've never experienced it. Being hugged, I mean. We sat there for a long time. Sometime later I realized that I was crying, which is weird because I hadn't cried since I was seven. Early on, I learned that crying wouldn't resolve anything and no one would come for help. But Hermione just hugged me all the more harder and kept telling me in the smoothest and light voice she could about what happened next. She told me of everything she knew and learned from the books. I wasn't really listening to it all, so I would have to ask she tell me all of it at a later date.

By the time I calmed down and my tears dried, it was getting dark. I wasn't sure what I would do with all that knowledge. I wasn't sure if it was all true even if a part of me couldn't deny it. So I just asked her if we could meet again. She just nodded and looked happy that I wanted to speak to her again. I had forgotten that she too was without friends and I asking to meet her must feel extremely good for her. Honestly, me as well.

When we reached the edge of the forest, we went in different directions, her parents and other clients had a special place for them courtesy of the company. My relatives were in a good mood when I returned to the tents. Of course, I probably ruined it for them when they saw me again, most likely they imagined someone would kidnap me or I would get lost in the woods. Vernon just grunted at seeing me and I didn't even address them. I had no plans to tell them what I had learned. Either one or both could have known since I was a baby and they never deigned it important to tell me so I would return the same courtesy.

Turning over to my tent, now that it was up, I could see that it was half the size of Dudley's but I didn't care, I got in and zipped it up. Changed my nightwear and laid there just looking up to the fabric ceiling. It was all too much to take and as I kept repeating how my parents died –I swear I could almost see that spell fire off and take them from me- I unresponsive to anything else slowly but surely fell asleep.

* * *

The next day I was woken by my aunt, she shook the tent until I grunted an answer and we proceeded to the showers for people in the site. Women to the left, men to the right. The relatives were… not annoying. Probably didn't want anyone to see the usual way the treated me and start asking questions. I didn't feel like going up to somebody and saying something. I don't think anyone would believe me and seeing as I haven't been yelled or hit –not that they did that a lot- the chances were even lower and I would look like a liar.

We got out, went back to the tent and ate breakfast, courtesy of me. Say what you will about how they hated me, even if they would never admit it, they loved my cooking.

I didn't know what to do, so I went back to yesterday's spot. Obviously the Hermione girl wasn't there yet. She had said her parents wanted her to play with other kids or at least try. I'd give it until after the afternoon. I had patience to spare. Instead I spent the time looking across the area for those insects or snakes she had told me about that. I wasn't actually sure of what they looked like but it was fun and time consuming. I even tried to use a stick as if it were a wand. Nothing happened so I imagine that it was a special type of wood that did it. Or these wizards created them artificially. I'd definitely ask her later.

When I saw it was midday by the shade of the trees, I went back for a moment to get something to eat. The company was giving out hot dogs and I was determined to eat my share. Taking a few for the afternoon and a water bottle I ran back trying not to let them fall, hoping she was there or hadn't come and left.

To my surprise, she was sitting below the same tree as yesterdays. A bundle of books no more than five or six by her side and one in her lap, reading one intently and making scribbles on the sides. I had pegged her for someone to value books more than life, so to say I was surprised by it would be an understatement. Stepping on a branch purposefully she tracked out of the book and looked for the noise, finding me in an instant and smiling with some sort of… relief?

"I was beginning to believe you wouldn't come?" Ah, so that's why. I was right on her hoping to meet me again to be friends or to talk about magic.

"Actually I've been here for a long while. It's just I heard they were making hot dogs and went to get some." I showed her the paper bag. She just let out an embarrassed 'Oh.' and patted her side so I would sit. That was a new experience for me. "Do you want one?" I asked.

"Maybe later." She said. She was looking back at the book and making some more jotting of things I imagine she found curious or even had more questions of. A few minutes later she stopped as if realizing she wasn't alone. "Oh! Sorry. I got a few extra books, for background reading, you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_." At my look she commented. "Well, um, I hadn't finished them and I asked my mom to let me bring them. In case you're wondering they are charmed so that muggles don't become interested in reading them. They mostly say the same thing about what happened but they have some background info on different things, like _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ talks about the Dark lords across British history and what they've done more than the other two and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century _talks more in depth about, well everything about this century and mentions this Lord Voldemort and what they inquired about how and what happened. It's actually self-revised, but I don't know how that works… _Modern Magical History_ talks about the goblin rebellions –those are these strange creatures that own the wizarding bank- about revolutions by the very wizards and magical discoveries –spells, creatures, potions, that sort of stuff."

I looked at her in wonder, all this books and she did it so all for me. It didn't pass me by that each one was very heavy and she only had her backpack to carry them. Her back most have been made of steel. She gave me a strange look and I realized that I had been staring for a while so I coughed to hide my spacing out. "Um, th-thanks. I don't know what to say."

She stuttered a bit. "Don't mention it. I had them all anyway in my tent, and I couldn't let you go unprepared to that side. I think many people will be expecting that you know of what happened and will want expect you to act in some ways, so I didn't want you to be caught ill-equipped."

"Thanks, that was smart of you. No one ever did anything like that for me…."

"Ah, well." She sounded a little uncomfortable with the small praise. "My mom was the one that actually gave me the idea. Since she couldn't read the books I read them to her and she was the one that told me that she thought you would be mobbed like crazy and people might not care or notice. When you told me you didn't know about your fame it stroke a chord on what she said."

I actually swallowed in nervousness. I wasn't used to being around many people. And suddenly I would have people crowding me like mobs for what I did? It was enough to cause anyone a panic attack. Luckily I wasn't that old. What I did was choose the one that I had the most interest at the moment: _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. _It was the best chance to know from direct sources what happened. Supposedly no one was there except my parents and I so the information might not be that reliable, but at the most I wanted to learn what everyone else thought they knew. With hope it would calm me and help me forget about the coming mobs.

I started at the beginning, and soon noticed a pattern. The information wasn't that well organized. There weren't categories by which I could comb through and set a pace to understand what happened. The book just had things stated by the year and moment it happened. At one moment it talks about The _Tutshill Tornados_ winning five consecutive _British and Irish Quidditch League_ titles –which sounded like some kind of game- and then talked the banning of some musical instrument from performances. States people that are born that seem to be important in the future with a small sentence of what they'd do in the future and then say about some famous witch that died. It went on and on like that and it was starting to grow confusing for me.

I could see why Hermione hadn't finished these books yet. If the others were the same i would also take it slow and easy. I wasn't a major reader or could even read that fast, but I could hold my own. On the contrary, Hermione was almost eating the pages at how fast she finished one, jotted whatever she jotted and continued on the next.

It continued like that for some time, I'd read a few years worth of events, stop and stretch, walk around a bit to get the feeling back in my legs and sit back. Rinse and repeat. Hermione also did it, albeit a few times less than me. She must have become a skilled in finding the right way to read. Or was just really devoted to her books.

Time flied so fast that when I realized I was straining my eyes to see I looked up I was surprised to find that night was coming. Looking to my side I found the, in my opinion, funny sight of Hermione holding with her left a flashlight while on her right a pen or pencil since I couldn't see it well and continuing without a care. It seems she came prepared, or most likely she always carried the flashlight for occasions such as this one.

"Hermione?" she didn't answer to my voice so I poked her while calling her again. "Hermione."

"Huh?" she looked at me a bit annoyed. Must have reached an interesting part but staying in the woods at night wasn't my kind of interesting. "What?"

I chuckled a bit. "It's getting late." She looked around immediately realizing I was right. "And I don't know about you but I don't want my eyesight to be even worse than it is because I was straining them to read. Although" I carried in an amused tone. "I see that you don't have that problem."

"I, well." Her trying to explain herself made me laugh resulting in her finally realizing I was playing her. She huffed in mock indignation, but conceded that I was right. We began to pack up, no hurry in leaving. I think we both realized that it would be the last night we'd have to read together and neither wanted it to end. By now I believed her completely, there was no way she could have everything premade waiting for a Harry that was an orphan and wanted to really believe that there was something more for him out there.

Huh. Was that how I saw myself? Kind of depressing.

It was that thought that made me look at the stars, they were big, bigger than I'd ever probably know. I once had a dream about reaching them. Learning what made them and how the universe was born. It was a great dream, but I quickly realized that as long as I was under my relatives thumb they would never let me rise from the ground. Especially with my uncle's overgrown weight. I swear that man is as big as that shooting star must be the one that seems to be coming… right… at… me.

My first reaction was yelling in shock mixed with a bit horror. The second was running as fast as I could towards Hermione. The third and probably what saved us the most was hugging the stuffing out of her in a poor attempt at hiding her from the blast –I can't deny I'm smaller than most boys my age, but I tried my hardest- and turning to the tree she had just sat I embraced the tree's trunk as my lord and savior and hoped beyond anything that it would hold.

Seconds later what was possibly the worst earthquake I'd ever felt in my life, barring when Dudley ran down the stairs and made my cupboard room shake as if the end of the world, hit us. The impact flung us feet away from our hiding hole, soil was displaced, trees were uprooted and animals sought escape from what they had never felt before.

We landed, in what I think was an ok way. It wasn't hard by any means as no bones were broken, but it still hurt confirmed by both of our cries of pains. I was disoriented for a while and it took me a while to get up on my knees. The sound from the impact left us off-balance. Seeing it was a bit difficult to stand, I conceded on just sitting.

"Harry? Oh, what was that?" I heard Hermione to my side. She was growing desperate trying to figure out what just happened. I wanted to tell her, but first I wanted to gain my bearings. "What- was than earthquake? An explosion? Oh God! Harry, my parents, my parents don't know where I am! What if they're hurt, or are looking for me? I got to- I got to get to them." She was scrambling to get all her stuff. Ok, bearings regained.

"Hermione. Hermione!" I had to yell for her attention.

"What Harry?" Ok. I feel in danger. Why do I feel in danger? Is it Hermione? Damn this girl is scary.

"It wasn't an earthquake." I responded as calm as I could. No doubt if I went curtly she would attack back in infuriation and irritation.

"It wasn't?" she asked a bit more calm. "Then what was it?"

I couldn't believe I was about to say this. "It was a shooting star." Silence met my answer. She looked at me incredulously.

"Harry." She began slowly and a smidge condescending. "There haven't been any forecast for shooting stars in the last two years. Even if there were, I would think that there would have been any kind of mentioning in the past few days." So she didn't believe it. Or at least found it highly unlikely. Either way stung.

"So you don't believe me." It was a fact, not an accusation… ok, it was an accusation.

"No" she quickly retracted. "Harry that's not what I-"

"It's ok, I'll just show you."

"Show me?"I began to get up. "Wha- Harry? Wait!" I continued back to the crash site. I was determined to see the meteor and prove it to her. In the back of my mind, I realize that it was petty of me that I did that. Up and leave. I mean, of course I don't have credibility with her; we've only known each other for two days. And she gives the impression of someone that follows logic and facts. So I would find the meteor and show her that Harry Potter wasn't a liar.

Well, to people I liked.

"Wait!"I could hear her footsteps getting closer, but I was already near the edge of the crater. "I said, Wait!" Unprepared as I was by her pulling my shoulder back, my instincts came to life by years of Harry Hunting. I flinched from the contact and turned to fast for my liking at the moment to confront her. Instead I lost my balance, my left foot tripping on a rock and the end result was me, falling backwards and tumbling various times back to front. When I landed at the bottom, I landed on my chest, eliciting a 'huff". "Oh God. Oh God! Harry, Harry?! Are you ok?! Answer me!"

I waited until I could feel my lungs back to normal before grunting out a response to sate her worry. She just continued on given me a lot of apologizing and asking how I felt. I answered half-heartedly because I too was wondering how I survived that fall. Now that I saw it at least a ten foot tumble and none of my bones are broken or even my neck. I added that to my magic helping me. When I got out of there I would ask her if such things happened regularly.

The dust was settling now. A bit too slow for my tastes, but I would get what I could. Shuffling forward at a slow pace, I didn't want to get so far, just to fall down again and this time lose consciousness or get hurt beyond bruising. It would be my luck that just as I was here an adult would come and rip it off. Even more so when they should have started organizing themselves to search what happened.

I could now see much more clearly. The next few feet were distinguishable and the object of my desire was in my view. Imagine. Harry potter the discoverer or the one that first found the H.P. meteorite. I could just see it now, me standing next to my big perfectly circular meteorite.

Wait, what?

"Um, Hermione?"

"Yes? Are you ok? Did you find it?"

"I think so." Now I was the one worrying. Nothing could enter our atmosphere and stay in that shape. I wasn't sure _if _ it was possible, but this was just to ridiculous.

"You think?" she asked clearly confused.

"Well, um, have you ever heard of a meteorite being circular?"

"What? Um, I think that most of it burns away. Something about the air heating it, but right now I can't remember well. It might be possible, why?"

"Have they ever being perfectly circular?" a short time between her answer to my question that it seemed to stretch to an extreme degree.

"Harry… get out of there." Her voice was clear with worry and apprehension. I was sure she could feel it as well from my question that such thing wasn't natural.

I immediately began to turn, backpedaling was my only way. And I would have run too, if the weird meteorite had not shifted, the ground giving away directly in front of me and rolling directly towards me. I was a second to slow as an opening on what I now realized was a metal sphere opened and an object inside glowed an eerie green. Suddenly it jumped out of the hole and I reacted by covering my face.

I had seen that Alien movie; I did not want my face melted off thank you very much.

Instead what the watch did was attack my left wrist, reaching up to the wrist and attaching itself to me. My shock only lasted half a second before I began screaming like crazy and running back to Hermione. All the while my only thought was that I was going to get infected, I was going to die by an alien virus. Worst, Hermione was going to kill me. She was going to tell me she was right it wasn't a meteorite and kill me! She had that kind of vibe, I just knew it! It didn't matter we'd only met a scant few days ago, she would do it. I was sure.

I ran back, no longer screaming as it took a lot of my lung space and my breathing was shortening, scrambling at the steep hiking up. She was lying chest down at the edge, trying to gaze deep veil of dust that hadn't settled at the outer part. Upon seeing me she scrambled back to give me space. I was straining as far as I could my now possibly possessed arm or weapon to mass alien virus as if the simplest touch would make it explode. Of course having it attached to my arm and that subsequently attached to me, I was on a losing battle.

"What is that?" my wild imagination fell down as I startled both us with me jumping back as she was pretty close when she spoke.

"I, uh, what?" I pretended I didn't know what she was talking about.

"That." She emphasized with her finger pointing at the strange watch-like thing.

"Well…" I was –thankfully- interrupted by a male voice calling out to us.

"Hermione!"

"Dad?" she sounded hopeful. And I remembered that she was actually worried about her family. I felt like an arse. I had never felt anything good for my relatives and so I didn't understand how she could be worried about hers. I still don't, it seems so far away a dream to have someone that loves and cares for you. "Dad!" she ran off in the direction of her father's screams and I could hear that they recognized her own calls and came in our direction, rushing to find her.

While I was happy for her, I didn't know what to do. This… thing… wasn't from this planet and if they found it, they would take it away from me. For whatever reason it would do or whatever would happen to me, at the moment, it was _mine._

This was stupid, irresponsible, crazy, and probably suicidal.

I was going to hide it.

I went back to my things that were also thrown about with Hermione's and looked for this one jacket that Aunt Petunia had bought me for this trip (something about not wanting me to catch a cold and give it to her darling Dudders). It was long enough to hide half my hand and wide enough that it wouldn't be noticed that something was below it.

Just in time as Hermione burst through the bushes with her dad in tow. "Harry!" she called out. I gave a simple wave to her dad and continued to collect our things. By the corner of my eyes I could see Hermione narrowing her eyes at my hidden watch thing and slightly confused as to why. She was about to speak up, but I beat her to it.

"Hermione." She closed her mouth. "give me a hand?" she nodded and jogged lightly to my side. Her dad was watching to the side with a questioning gaze of either of what we were doing here or what I was to his daughter. I decided to distract him for a bit and asked him to help us speed things up by getting the farthest things from us.

When his back was turned I whispered to Hermione to come closer. "Harry,… why are you hiding that thing? You didn't have it earlier."

I decided against hiding this from her. I didn't know if she would tattle or hide this secret for me, but to me –and her- this was the test of friendship. "I know. I found it in the crash site. Well, it would be better to say that it jumped out and attacked my wrist." I whispered. She seemed to understand that I didn't want her father to hear and lowered her voice as well.

"But Harry, what is it? What if it hurts you?" her worry plagued her voice. It kinda made me feel nice to know someone worried about me. Although, she could just be worried about this thing doing something to us or me in front if her, thereby scarring her forever.

"I don't know what it is, but I'm keeping it." She looked as if she was about to disprove of my decision so I did the best thing I could to soothe her. "_If, _if this thing is dangerous I'll go directly to an adult and ask for help. But right now, want to keep it." I looked into her eyes and did Child Plea #3: Puppy Eyes for Hire ©. At this age they worked for even me.

"I, uh, oh alright." Ha, she caved. "But, I'll be watching. I'm not letting you out of my sight mister." Eh, I'd get what I could. After that with quickly finished gathering everything and her father took us hurriedly to the edge of the forest. On the way, he explained that when the earthquake was felt the company executive called for us to stop the festivities. A Park Ranger that was in the area to guard us and watch for anything inappropriate asked that everyone go back to their tents and wait. Most worried about their families and after quakes decided to hit the road. Packing up their stuff and leaving. Then everyone followed suit and now the trip was canceled.

Mr. Granger as I learned was Hermione's surname told me he would take to my relatives before taking his daughter and going back home. I, in case my relatives dragged me away to fast, asked for her phone number so we could stay in contact. We weren't friends _yet_ but she was my only connection to wizards and I wasn't prepared to cut it off. She happily gave it while her father continued to look at me in an analyzing manner that frankly scared me.

When we got to the place where my uncle had the tents we found it deserted. Trust my relatives to take the first chance they can and leave me in the dust. They probably imagined I wouldn't have met anyone that would help a freak like me and I'd die of hunger or something.

"Ah, I seem to have been left behind." Those were my chosen words. Because really, what else was I supposed to say at this time.

"What!" that was Hermione's voice. "What horrible people would do that?!"

"Eh, uncle's done worse."I responded absentmindedly, forgetting for a moment that it wasn't just us two. When I remembered just after that Mr. Granger was there, I peeked from the corner of my eyes and saw his surprised look at hearing my response. Then there was a bit of suspicion and anger for me. Then he hid it all, just beneath the surface.

"Well," Mr. Granger was hiding a bit of his anger at my relatives. "I suppose that we could give you a ride back home. You can stay over for the night and tomorrow we'll call them. That sounds ok?" Ah, another one that imagined the worst and wouldn't do a thing. My hope in Mr. Granger lowered and I simply replied an affirmative 'Yes, sir.'

There were cars and trucks honking and beeping for all others to hurry up. We took our time getting everything ready to leave. While the hype and worry was high, Hermione's parents believed that this atmosphere might make others too emotional and things could get out of control. Someone could hit the car, or cut us off and make us crash. So while they were ready, we would wait until the traffic out lessened.

While Mr. Granger was tall and well-built, Ms. Granger was a few inches lower and had a happy and loving expression on her face. It was as if she hadn't a care in the world, or that everything was always going to be fine.

It was a definite contrast to my uncle and aunt; actually they might as well be polar opposites in their looks and nature. In fact, the very moment I called Ms. Granger by her surname she said 'None of that darling. Call me Emma. And this one here, my loving husband is Watson.'

I responded sincerely for their help. "Thank you, Emma, Watson." She and Hermione beamed at me, looking like the very mother and daughter they were while Watson just nodded.

We continued to talk for the rest of the trip, once the traffic had basically disappeared. They were nice, and respectful, just like their daughter and while Hermione kept up in the conversation she would continue to give me this looks that I knew were about the device. I stubbornly ignored them, I wasn't about to think about it at this time. Who knew what it would do and I was having too much fun being content with no relatives in sight and a good family to speak with.

Besides, I could feel the thing. Every time I moved my arm, every bit of my skin rubbing it and the contact felt a contrast of hot and cold. The device was metal, of something not earth metal that was sure, so that's why it felt cold. But there was a hidden, no a barely to the surface heat, that I knew was there yet I couldn't feel, I couldn't understand that made me realize that this object would already change my life even more than being a wizard or the Boy-Who-Lived ever would.

I felt, that with it, things would come about that would help me see more of that beautiful dark sky that I wanted to reach.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Well, here we are with the first of this installment. Honestly I don't know what made me come and write this. I was just writing my ideas on a piece of paper for future fictions. There were like ten or so, either x-overs all not, and this one just spoke the most about not letting me sleep. And trust me, with my helping my dad get his business afloat (we just started a month ago) I haven't have time to even read all the updates of the stories I read. So I don't know exactly when I will be able to update this one again.**

**NOW, I don't know yet what Hermione's role will be at the end in all of this. Will she be a Gwen replacement, will she be a love interest, a best friend/sister? This story will write itself as it sees fit.**

**SECOND, the aliens name will stay as it is. No need to confuse readers with other witty imaginary names. I have great ideas about how to incorporate more aliens into the Omnitrix and involve Azmuth. **

**THIRD, the Omnitrix will not have that many problems as Ben had in the series. Since we have a more… thoughtful hero as the wielder and exponentially more intelligent Hermione as his help to understand it stands to reason they would understand it much better than the cannon ones ever would. Not to mention they might have someone that would actually explain to them what it was and what was happening and not keep it a secret for over 14 episodes and who knows how many weeks in timeline. (I'm looking at you Max Tennyson)**

** So, read and review my loyal subjects,**

** Your King,**

** KingOuma.**


	2. You wanted the watch, Harry

OmnitrixThe Wizard Bearer Ch. 2

"Talking" -Normal Voices

**"****Talking"** -Alien Voices

_"__Talking" _Ommitrix Voice

_§Talking§ -_Parseltongue Voices

* * *

**Disclaimer: Did the time between Ep. 1 and 2 be so big, that Ben was able to look at all his aliens and name them, yet too short to that Uncle Max didn't make rules and teach him how each one would be good for whatever situation arises? If so, I don't own Ben 10 or Harry Potter.**

* * *

"Harry, pleeeeaaase?" Hermione's voice whined on my side. I sighed in exasperation for the third time today.

We had an awkward breakfast at her house this morning, her parents were trying to discreetly, and failing, ask me about my aunt and uncle and I would not so subtle change the topic. I had told them that since it was a weekend day my 'family wouldn't wake up long before noon and I'd call them by that time.

They were obviously astonished that my relatives weren't looking for me worriedly and when asked I let an unwanted snort escape. Like they would care. I don't think families care _that_ much about their cousins or nephews, why would they? We aren't directly related and they've always have detested me for inconsequential things and its one thing I, for the longest time, have returned in full. I'm sure that's the same in most cases like mine.

"No, Hermione. Again, I'm telling you _again _that I'm not telling your parents about the device, thing, whatever it is. It's mine, I found it, I have it attach to my arm and I'm keeping it." She keeps looking at me disapprovingly. "Look at it this way, I don't know your parents and I have something that fell out of the sky, if it was you on my shoes, would you show it to an adult so they would take it?"

"Yes!" she stressed vehemently. Ok it was a wrong assumption to believe Hermione would understand my feelings on the matter. She was the typical bookworm, so it would be obvious that she didn't have many friends and like me that meant that we were always in the reach of teachers, but unlike her, I didn't believe or underwent everything authority figures said.

"Ok, forget what I just said. Look, this is something I gained, and I can't explain it to you, but I don't want to give it away, it's _mine._" I gave a look at the watch-like thing, its green light lightly shining even with such a sunny day. I hadn't been able to see how it really looked last night. It looked like a big wristwatch, black and gray were the primary colors. The case was outside gray and inside black with the dial being without numbers and instead having a green hourglass. At the cardinal points in the case it had small green bulges that looked mostly for design and two larger one down at the wrist. It looked very technological, very advance.

"And I won't give it to anyone, not unless it's dangerous." I stubbornly refused her earlier tirade.

"But if it?" she gave a quick worried look at it "Will you?"

I rolled my eyes. "_If_ it turns out to be dangerous, then, yeah, sure, I'll talk with someone to take it." Yeah, right. If it was, I wasn't going to give it to an adult to do with it as they pleased. I've seen the news, adults with guns aren't responsible, adults with alien tech would be even worse.

"Ok." Satisfied with it she now gave it a curious look. "What, what do you think it does?" another eye roll on my part. Trust her to get over her earlier fretting and turn around to wanting to know what it does. She really had a curious personality.

I gave her a grin. "Let's find out." Raising my hand, I shoved the watch between us. There wasn't any danger at the moment of her family or someone watching us. After breakfast and a talk her parents went to their clinic to take care of some things, they said that they would take me back home at evening, so I was understandably anxious to get started. We were in her backyard, and with it having a high fence, whatever this thing did, I'm sure it wouldn't be seen if it was safe, but we were outside and it was spacious in case it wasn't.

The watch, as I would call it from now on, glowed slightly more as if knowing I was about to touch it, perhaps been that advanced it did? I fiddled slowly with it, touching the outside buttons with no action from it, Hermione giving concerning looks over everything. We would touch one wait a minute or two and then touch anything else. After touching everything else I touched the centerpiece and that's when unexpectedly it beeped, causing us to jump in fright and Hermione actually distancing herself from me. Thank you for that boost of confidence.

The top raised itself and glowed even brighter. I stop looking at it and gave her a shaky smile, not from fright, of course not that would be very unmanly, but from excitement, yeah…

I wish she had actually brought her wand outside, but she said that magic didn't work very well with technology and besides if she did anything wizards would come and that would defeat the whole point of our secrecy. I don't get why it doesn't work, so I'd wait until I met an expert.

After minutes of just staring at it, we huddled back, careful to look over what it did. In place of the hourglass a diamond shaped itself. A silhouette of some kind of humanoid appeared. It looked strong, with a triangle-shaped and sort-of cut head.

We just stared at it. I didn't understand what to do and by the look on Hermione's face neither did she. "Maybe, try pressing it?" insecure in her suggestion I just stared at her. She huffed. "Well, it sprung up, right? Then if you press it down maybe something happens?"

Arching a brow I asked. "Didn't you just have a fit about _not _touching it?"

"Yeah, but, you, you already have it like that, so I can't stop you now, can I?" Cheeky girl, she wants to know as much as I do, she just wants an adult present.

I grin. "Well, here goes nothing." With a finger I gently press it.

It's a strange experience, I tell you. To have, to feel as your body becomes sort of hi-jacked and something begins to wear itself over you. A strange, itchy bodysuit that covers _everything_ and I don't mean just the outer part of my body, but to feel as your very bones change, to gain an extraordinarily stupid growth sport with them and gain crystal-like vision. It looked a bit jagged, like everything had gone crystal and the edges of everything were sharp even round objects. And now all I could see was in shades of yellow. This was weird because my whole body was now green and I couldn't understand why it

Looking at my hands I saw how they were green, giant hands compared to my own, I had a sleeveless black and white body suit, white on the left and at the top right above where my heart should be, the watch with a black patch around it.

"Harry?" a squeaky voice to my left sounded. Oh, right. Alien-looking thing in my place. I looked down at her as she cowered back. I raised a hand to reassure her but she flinched back.

Lowering it I tried to speak. **"Hermione."** Wow, my voice changed. It was deeper, and robust. She didn't look at me. **"Hermione, it's me, Harry."**

I waited for a few seconds until she would raise her head. Meekly she looked at me and I waited. It was a surreal way to wait as I was, I didn't make any sudden movements for her, but I bent my neck to see the rest of my body. It seems that only my hands were slightly disproportional to the rest, while on my back I could feel some spikes, two on each side. By the time I was done checking myself out, and boy was that weird to say, Hermione was done getting over her panic attack and looking me over in no small amount of wonder.

"Whoa!" was all she said.

**"****I know right."** A smile tugging at my, um, lips? Did I have lips? **"Hermione, do I have lips?"**

She just stared at me, and just looked at me like she had heard the stupidest thing in the world. Realizing how weird it sounded I tried awkwardly to phrase it differently but before that, she started to giggle, which evolved into a laugh that was screamed to the heavens.

Honestly, this girl doesn't have a sense of precaution.

I don't know why but I started to laugh as well, falling to the floor and causing a small tremble while Hermione just giggled through it all. I think it was the silliness of it all. Here we were, two kids –two magical kids- that found a rock from space that ended up being an alien device and now it had strapped itself to my hand, which had let me transform into an _alien_.

The moment only lasted no more than a minute, but it had somehow helped take off the pressure we had felt since yesterday, and to me it had taken off a bit of my gained knowledge of the magical world.

After all her giggling was reduced to nil, Hermione took it upon herself to examine me. She had run off back into the house and came back a minute later with a notebook and a quill, to which I raised an eyebrow. Wait, did I have eyebrows…? I won't ask Hermione.

**"****What's that for?"**

" I'm going to sketch you." She said absentmindedly. It looks like that drawing takes over her as much as reading does. I think that's part of how she is, so far from how I've seen. She focuses on something and just that. It worthy of praise and at the same time it worried some. She would be the kind of person that sees the trees and not the forest. Never the larger picture or her surroundings.

**"****Why?"**

"Partly so you can see yourself, I imagine you can't see your back that well, and…partly for the future."

**" ****Future?"** I asked curious.

"Yes. I don't know if you'll stay forever as that, but if you don't I want to have something that said I saw it. I saw alien technology and I saw an alien, or whatever you are at most." She stared off at my body. I noticed she wasn't actually drawing it at the moment, but more to have it engraved in her memory. There wasn't anything more to it, just seeing it to believe it, I think.

And I can understand her. Even at the moment, I haven't fully believed it. I imagine that it will at any moment turn me back, detach itself and fly off. It is a scary thought to have it all to myself and it goes and leaves me, and I'll always remember how it felt to change and be never able to do it again.

I would have flexed, or moved but she just asked me to stay still. She'd move around trying to get all the angles and from what she let me see the few times it was coming up very good. She wasn't the best or a master, but her need for detail made her draw and redraw any part until she was satisfied. As such, there was a small kind of surprised when a beeping sound came from the watch, a red light flashing for about ten seconds and then a bigger one that left us blind for a few seconds.

When we were able to see again I already knew what had happened. Even without seeing, I could feel it. It's a strange thing to have your senses recalibrated and been able to compare both sides and take it from me it took a few seconds to adjust my sight to different colors, to feel the wind on my skin and just about everything else in a whole other light. To put it simply: it was confusing yet so amazing.

Hermione looked a bit confused for a few seconds figuring out what happened and when she saw me again, my human for that is, she looked just a smidge relieved. Why? Because I was no longer an alien? Or maybe she was jealous? I know Dudley doesn't like it when I have something he doesn't have. I'll have to be careful with her then, I don't think I could take it if she tried to take away the watch.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, I couldn't really take it off last night. I gave up after a while because it was dark and I thought that I just didn't find the switch or whatever it had. I'll try it later, right now with her here I don't think it be a good idea. Maybe whe- _if _ I know her better I'll talk to her about it.

"What happened? I wasn't finished." She was looking at the watch and back at me like I had the answer to it. I just shrugged; I wasn't an expert in this.

"I don't know. Maybe it has a limit." I responded. Looking back on it the once green hourglass and all the little buttons were red. Maybe I was right and it was… recharging? I mean, who knows what it actually did to me to change me and whatever energy it used must be a lot. Did it then use sunlight? I looked at the sky. If it does, that would seriously suck for an advanced piece of technology. Maybe… I shook my head. No need to guess. This was way out of my league.

She nodded in agreement, and then went back to her notebook probably sketching the few things she could perfectly do. We agreed to wait until the watch stopped being red or did something else. I went and got some snacks for us, getting her permission of course, if my aunt taught me anything was how to _not _make people mad at you. That and an impressive knowledge of house cleaning and maintenance, the best ways to care for a garden that isn't even yours to care for, cooking and even how to best sow rumors into the neighborhood wives, even if the last two she didn't do directly.

That wasn't to say that I was an expert in all that stuff, that would be ridiculous. One couldn't expect a ten year old boy like me to have an instant mastery in those things or that I went and learned them in record time. That wasn't to say that I was stupid, because I wasn't. On the contrary, I maintained a rather average grade in all my classes, mostly just below Dudley's some I took from time to time and got better ones than him, but those I always had a row with Vernon about.

He had a rather weird view on my grades and everything I actually did better at than his son. Now I understand what he meant by with my 'freakishness' was actually magic. It was disturbing in some ways that my uncle knew of magic, knew of me having magic, possibly knew what wizards could do and _still_ treated me like this. If Hermione was right and I was soon to get my letter, what would they have done? What if I had never known? If I went to a normal school, filled with normal people and never knew about my family? I do not know or care to imagine.

As such, I was very weary of my relatives. They went to great lengths to keep this hidden from me, I can't take it easy with them or talk to them of whatever has to do with magic. So because I wasn't as stupid as I had let them to believe –although Aunt Petunia might know this- I had to be sure of what I _could_ do. Add to it all that I know have an alien watch capable of transforming into other species and my problems grew. On one side I had my relatives and how to deal with them, on the other the magical world and all that business with me being famous, and on the last corner this alien stuff.

The first two I couldn't do anything about them know, there simply wasn't anything that could help me take care of them and I wasn't about to charge head on. The watch on the other hand…

The watch beeped loudly spooking us both. I saw it going back to green before another sound came out. The diamond went back to the hourglass and it was as if everything was back to normal. I looked back to Hermione who was looking at me curiously; I asked, "What's wrong?"

"Um, I was, was wondering what were you going to do now." she responded as she packed up most of her stuff she wasn't using.

"I wanted to see what else it could do, what else?" Honestly, I couldn't get this girl. One moment she was all bossy then as curious as a cat and now back to indecisive. We had already done this and she knew nothing wrong had happened, so why was she asking this?

"Well, it just that I wanted to be sure. I mean, that was really cool and all but what if one of them is really big, or it can hurt us, or even, even result in property damage, can you imagine the damage to my neighborhood?" she ended aghast. I rolled my eyes involuntary, because honestly she was blowing all of this out of proportion. Of course, I hadn't told her what actually happened when I transformed, had I? I didn't know if it was thanks to the watch or something else but I knew from the very moment I changed what I could do. it wasn't that I held the memories of whatever it is that I actually transformed to, but I imagine that in the off chance whomever would have had this watch or whomever made it needed to know how to use the bodies, didn't they?

Sighing softly I looked around before laying my eyes on her. "Well, what do you suppose we do? I don't know this place, and there doesn't look like there is any place to do this."

She bit her lips a bit, probably thinking hard on what to do. I left her at it. it was very obvious that Hermione was much more intelligent than I was. Whether because she read a lot of books or because she good studying and learning I don't know, but she was intelligent, scarily so, from what she'd shown me, and I knew that she would at least get some idea on what to do. whatever else she got stuck on, then I'd help her.

Meanwhile I glanced back to my watch, half intending on getting that same alien again and half itching to look at what the others could look like. Since Hermione had already disproved of transforming I'd do the second, if nothing to not have her on my case. So while she thought it out I walked a few paces back to the one tree in her backyard and sat there, with the slight breeze passing between the leaves and branches and a rather quite silent atmosphere. Repeating what I had done before I touched the centerpiece again, causing the top to go up and giving out a small beep. Seriously, that was getting a bit annoying.

I had just pressed it the first time so I wasn't actually sure it _would _have more aliens but I was glad I was right. As I turned the top, different bodies revealed in it. I gave a full turn, counting them all, before starting to watch how each one looked. For some reason it only gave an outline and not a full color picture of the aliens, so all I could see was their types of bodies. One of them had this cord or something sticking out of his face and a skinny body, another actually had four arms and looked very, very strong. One was actually on four legs and looked like it had fur, so I think it was some type of dog. Cool, one looked like some kind of ghost, with wispy-like tail and thin arms. I was actually a bit scared about ghosts, but the fact that something like them might actually exist, set it aside. I mean, how many people can say that they've turned into a ghost and can turn invisible and go through walls. Heh, I might even use it to go around and haunt Dudley, that would be fun.

The others look awesome as well, but without actually seeing them or transforming into them my high kinda slowed down. I mean, it was all awesome and great but I was also a bit wary of doing much in this space. Hermione might have overplayed it, but now it was nagging me as well. She was right, the alien I had just turned to could do a lot of stuff with his… crystals? and I knew there could be more he did or had because he was made of crystals but I think that just messing around with him and I could have stabbed Hermione. So again, she was sort of right, which was why I left her to it. There wasn't much I could do now and she didn't have any book of magic outside so nothing on that route. Honestly, maybe I would just take it easy for the moment and relax. It certainly wasn't something I could do in the Dursley household.

It must have been around five minutes before Hermione walked back to me, she didn't look pensive so I think she finally figured it out. She stood for a second unsure before settling down in front of me. I got the sense that she wanted to do sit by the tree, at my side, but I wasn't sure.

Biting her lip she told me what she figured out. "There's a park about three blocks from here. Its open and big, but it's not why I proposed it. Behind, behind it there's some forestry, not too thick but I think enough to hide us from other people." It sounded like a good idea to me. I didn't see why she was so reserved about it. So I asked her. "The problem is Harry, that it's very far away and, well I've never gone that far away from my parents. They've never liked me gone far from the house. My neighborhood might seem a nice place but some kid was kidnapped long ago and, well my parents were being parents, you know?"

No, in fact, I didn't. she might know that my parents are dead, but I haven't told her how my relatives treat me. Just one night with her family and I can already see lots of differences. I mean, I know the Dursley's don't treat me great –for proof please see my last nine years- but I've never known _exactly _how different from others it was.

I considered telling her this, but in truth I don't know her. I don't. It doesn't matter what we've shared for the last four days, in the end she's still a stranger. I would love, more than anything else, to be her friend but truth is, I. Don't. Know. Her. Maybe in a few days, or as I get to know her I might part with things in my life, but I want to first see what kind of person she is first.

Now, to some that might seem weird and make me seem as untrustworthy, and they are right. I don't trust easily, I don't have friends, I don't know _how _to make friends, and I certainly don't even understand how or even what to talk to others about, so in my defense I can be wary all I want. This is a new experience for me and while I could just throw myself into the lion den, as it were, for this I will not. It's too important for that.

So instead I nod, "Yeah, I get it." and lie. It makes me a bit sick lying so readily, not that I don't do it much, but to do it to her, makes me feel bad. Forcing the thoughts away I try to convince her. "So," I climb to my feet, and dust myself off. "shall we go?"

She looks a bit confused. "But, I just told you-"

"And I know what you meant." I interrupted before she got rolling. "But we can't continue to do it here, right? People can see us and all that." She nodded slowly. Ok just a bit and I've got her. "So we go to those woods. We go in extremely careful and do not let anyone follow us. If someone does, we run back to the house. If I'm transformed, then I just hide and get them to leave." I shrugged. It wasn't skin off my bones, sure someone might spread stories or something crazy like that, but I wouldn't be coming much to Hermione's house and doing this to consider fueling it. "If what you say is right, then the woods should be thick enough that we can hide well enough and hide the flash it does." I finished. I admit, this wasn't the greatest of plans, nor was it worthy of high-grade intelligence, but I wasn't looking for fights or doing crazy things. We were, obviously, just kids not even eleven on my account. I wasn't about to get in on crazy stuff just because or plan for in case of such, I'd have to be extremely paranoid for most of those things or have an incredibly bad luck, which now that I think about…

In the end, I don't think it matters much if my plan is the greatest or awful, the end plan was to just make it all happen unseen and for a place like she described I wasn't going to expand my abilities for this. _If _something did happen, then, as I said, we'd run. I didn't know how to use my watch and Hermione certainly couldn't use her magic without Wizards possibly crawling up.

I waited for her to decide, no use in rushing her and thought about the first one of the aliens I'd use. It was probably unnecessary since we would try to get them all, but I was a kid and just imagining what each could do left me in a happy daze.

She finally decided, stood up, and went to get her stuff. I get the feeling she kind of knows I manipulated her. Even if it wasn't exactly that. But I shrugged inside, it wasn't that important.

We took her bag with the things she needed to draw, a light snack for each, and bug repellant. She went somewhere else in the house while I waited for her, probably to take some other stuff but I wasn't interested at the moment. Taking her keys with her, we opened the side screen of her house and went around the house coming over the other side and away from view.

In my personal experience, homemakers are extremely snoopy and always stay near their windows just waiting for some great rumor to later spread. I should know, Aunt Petunia sometimes used me for that.

By coming back so late, I didn't get to actually see her neighborhood, well that and I also fell asleep halfway here. Comparing them to mine, would be ridiculous. My neighborhood I could describe it in a single word: unoriginal. No type of imagination was wanted or asked, no type of change was made, and every single house had the same décor, the same paint, and sometimes even the same car! It was maddening, it truly was. To me those people seemed so wrong, like they weren't truly living. Just a mundane, routine life that never ended and their houses represented that.

In exchange, this community, because it certainly looked like one, sprung colors and some sort of life into the street, no matter how absurd it sounded in my own mind. There were house of blue colors, green colors, and even ones with a bit of purple on them. It was like walking into the Willy Wonka World. Now there was a world I'd like to live in, and I always get to thank my Music teacher for treating the class to it because I don't think even Dudley would have been able to see it in the house. I can just imagine Vernon grumbling about little orange singing men.

I chuckled a bit, causing Hermione to give me a strange glance but otherwise we continued walking peacefully. There wasn't much we could talk about out here in the open, what with magic or the watch been, either forbidden by the former or our own secret for the latter.

Soon enough we reached the park and I've got to say it was miles above my own. For one, none of the slides, swings, round-and-rounds, seesaws, or whatever else was there looked old, broken, misused, or just plain bad. Everything here, well, it wasn't in the best of conditions because kids do use them, but it showed that it was all taken care off. At that moment it hit me, that Hermione was actually from a rich family or at least one with money. This place was for rich people, for kids from rich families and played by them.

Right then I became slightly uncomfortable. Aunt Petunia had already educated me about this. I was way above my station, as she liked to call it, and needed to act accordingly. She had mentioned many times how I had to act, as I was but a boy I had to respect the adults and listen to whatever they said. Obey them in whatever was implied. I was an orphan, so I didn't actually have a station, therefore I was to actually do this for everyone else, including kids my age. That part actually sucked, but I had nothing I could do for that. They are my betters, period. It was… unbecoming of me to one-up them in something they had obviously placed emphasis on. In other words, if they were doing it to impress others I couldn't contradict them, do it better than them, or spread about that they were doing it wrong.

It was actually one of the few things she actually taught me peacefully and certainly took her time to hammer it in my head in the span of a few days. Most of the time I just hear what Vernon tells me and do it, but I have to be careful with her since she always notices when I'm not paying attention –probably from Dudley doing the same thing- and because of it I learn what she tells me, whether I want to or not.

Thinking back on the other 'rules' I had to do when I'm with 'a person of station' I straighten my back, fixed my head, and walked a bit more firmly. There wasn't anyone else here but Hermione, but I wasn't about to commit a faux-pas on that account. I just hoped she had forgotten about them in the whirlwind we had over the watch.

Walking calmly to the edge of the park, checked for anyone close watching us, and once deemed safe, we went in. The trees at the edge were thin and with a lot of space between them, so we walked a bit faster to clear them. Between all of this, Hermione hadn't said two words, and I had no idea why. Perhaps it was about earlier in her backyard or even about now, if she noticed at all my blunder. For now, I'd try to keep it up and not make her more angry.

The trees kept coming closer and closer between themselves until I turned my head back and couldn't see the park anymore. "Around here should be fine, right?" I asked her. Always ask, Aunt Petunia had said, it makes them know that you yield to them. It also makes them feel important. What I had found later on by myself was that I could also influence the answer. For example, with my question just now, I had asked for her decision and phrased it like I was tired off walking, so she had more energy and could decide for us. Of course, I wasn't, but it was the thought that counts. Literally in this case.

She looked around for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, it should." She took a 360 degree look and gave me what I think is her thinking look, one arm under the other while her right palm was under her cheek. "Um, what do you think? Here?"

I blinked back in surprise. She was asking for my opinion? There must be some trick here. Frowning back at her I shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you decide?" Whatever she was doing I wasn't about to fall for it. As the American say: the ball is now in her court. If she tries again, I know something is up.

She didn't fall for it, apparently, as she turned back to watch whatever it was she was watching. In all fairness, I don't understand if I did right. she seemed mad earlier, now she was asking for my opinion, and now we went back to the silence. I didn't like it.

"That way." She pointed to my right. I could see a bit of lighter shade coming from over there, so there must have been a bit less of trees there. About a hundred feet or less from there we found a small clearing, with a mid-sized rock at the other end and low reaching grass everywhere else. There were a few small rodents that scampered off when they saw us, but apart from that nothing else.

Clearing a small space for herself, Hermione sat down while I went a little ways away in front of her. Here the smell early morning dew seemed to be ever reigning in a suffocating kind of way. It wasn't horrible, since I've gotten used to it, but there was nothing else I could smell or even to just have clean air so I was slightly annoyed. I think it showed in my face because Hermione questioned me. "Are you ok?"

"Hmm. Yeah, yeah." She didn't seem to believe me, so I added. "It's…it's weird, but I've always been a city boy, never went to anywhere with this much…" I waved vaguely at around us. "So it's new, and don't get me wrong, it's sort of exciting, but there's just this smell…" she giggled at that. "you know?"

Her bushy hair swayed sideways as she said no. "I've never gone this far into the trees, but as you've seen, my neighborhood is surrounded by them, so maybe I just got used to the smell" she shrugged. "That's certainly possible. It's happen to me a few times when I visit London, always a strange smell here or there…" Ah, so she got it. Still, while I didn't actually tell her what I was thinking before, this gave me the pass to open a talk with her, something we'd miss on the way here. She looked at me slightly confused. "Is that why you were so silent on the way here? The smells?" Ah, that wasn't good. I didn't know how she came so fast to it, but I had to stall her. Lying wasn't a strong point of mine, so I just nodded, a bit jerkily for my tastes, and changed topics.

"You done, yet?" she had put everything she'd brought neatly on the forest floor. I didn't bother seeing what most were. Apart from her sketch and color pencils, nothing else was in use.

"Yeah." She waved her hand at me gesturing to hurry up myself. "You?"

"Yeah." I started the watch. The top raising just like last time. Funny that such a thing happened not so long ago and yet seemed so far away. The centerpiece changed again to that vibrant green diamond and one the aliens greeted me. It was quadruple, that much I could see, but with it being shadowed I didn't know what else about it. Shrugging internally, I got on with it. Pressing it down, the feeling came back. That overwhelming feeling as my body changed, as I felt my hands, my legs stretch and thin out. I hunched slightly forward, on my own. It… felt right aas seconds later a tail came out of my body. Wide at the beginning and thinning outwards. I could feel it all, even as my head changed as well and some sort of helmet appeared. It was like those helmets for dangerous racers that Dudley liked to play on his game console –whatever it was- and I could feel it all happen. Everything.

All of it in a second.

The light toned down and I saw Hermione was getting her hands out of her face, probably blinded a bit. She grumbled something about getting sunglasses, which made me laugh a bit and made her take notice of me. Aww lighted her face and I felt something at knowing someone looked at me like that. I never had that done, but it was a _very _nice feeling. Rapidly after that I began to feel the effects of the alien.

Like the first one, I knew from the very first seconds what I could do, I knew how to best work out my legs, how to move to max out my speed and even a nifty trick to create a small tornado. This alien wasn't strong, that wasn't its point. What it was, was that it was _fast. _Faster than probably anything human-made. And it wasn't just that I could think so many thoughts, so many things, it wasn't that I was smarter or wiser, whatever the difference was between them, but what I did know came up one after another and things kind off escalated from there. Lessons in history that I barely remember jumped at me, and then I had another thought on a small lesson Aunt Petunia gave me on gardening, which then came back to the class lesson and combined what I had learned from both. _That _ came back to a backburner thought on farming and what I could do and the best way I could plant so many seeds in the perfect way without displacing much of the soil.

All of it in a tenth of a second.

It continued and continued with similar silly things and inconsequential. I was starting to find it exhausting and a bit of fear crept into my thoughts that launched me to _another _thought on what would happen to me if I continued thinking and thinking and thinking…

And suddenly I breathed.

The knowledge, instinctual at best and just plain forced into me at worst, came and I suddenly knew how to limit my thoughts, how to slow down, because I could certainly burn out in a few minutes if I continued.

My head swam and circled, as I felt worn-out in such short time. Slumping to the ground lightly made Hermione jump in fright and forgetting whatever she had on her, crawled to me. "Harry? Harry?! Oh my God, I told you this would happen, I told you! Oh, oh! What do I do?!"

The slight headache stopped, but her voice grated me a little. Why? Because I wasn't hearing her right, it was like she had taken a mouthful of the funny air with the squeaky voice and turned it up to eleven yet so _slow_ I could probably make a ten page speech and she still wouldn't finish. So long, so long, just hurry up! Just shut up or hurry up!

Then! Out of nowhere, it stopped. Not the noise, but whatever had happened. I could hear again normally, well whatever passed for normal with this alien. A switch, for whatever that was, materialized –well not really- in my mind. And I knew what it did the second I saw it. this alien was made for speed. Literally. Its body was modeled after some sort of dinosaur, who's name I didn't know, and had armor that was, in every sense, part of it. I saw and understood now that this alien had evolved, evolved his speed so much, that it had evolved armor to protect it as a consequence, or as a result to some.

The switch was something I had for myself, something the alien didn't actually have, whatever it was because I still didn't know where the bodies actually came from… Because the alien was so fast the armor had come out to protect it, but it moved so fast that its mind also had to evolve with it, moving, thinking so, so fast, that I somewhat knew that I had done something stupid or the alien was like that when I got it, or something. But what was important was that I could do something about this. Like those switched that could lower the light slowly instead of on/off I could do that too. Somehow. But not really at what I think it should be.

And that I expected, it was the first time I had it out, and even if the watch or the alien gave me some knowledge on how to use it, it wasn't all there probably was to the alien. And I was fine with that, I _wanted _that, because it gave me a chance to call them out just to learn about them, think or act like them, and use whatever it was they did and master it.

To me this was vital, so important, that maybe magic was the only other thing out there that could make me this desperate to learn. And desperate I was, I had no mistake about this. Hermione had me learn of something I never knew, of magic and my parent's death, of _his _followers that may still be after me. I was always in some sort of danger with Dudley, still am, but I knew they weren't his sort, that with some pushing around, jeering and hurting I'd be let go. I think this people might actually want to kill me and with this watch, I might just stand a chance.

"Identification: Kineceleran Life form. Imperative: By order of Vilgax the Conqueror, Ruler of Vilgaxia, Conqueror of 10 Worlds, you are to relinquish the Omnitrix or face annihilation. Order: Surrender now or die."

But first, I think I'm going to have to survive this guy first.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Finally! I am so sorry about that. Almost two months I think for the update and I have never felt so bad. Truth be told, I didn't start this until last week and it was supposed to be finished sometime at the start of the week, but well Real Life and things happened.**

**Now this one is shorter than the first one, and I wont be changind this. I'll just write whatever chapter as long as I think it should be, because honestly? I don't think I could write more internal monologue for this one.**

**Next chapter has the action, the mystery, the magic! And possibly much more, hope you liked it and stay for more!**

**Also, if there are any errors PM me please, i dont have a beta so i want to correct them, thanks!**


	3. You wanted the aliens, Harry

The Wizard Bearer Ch. 3

"Talking" -Normal Voices

**"Talking"** -Alien Voices

_"Talking" _Ommitrix Voice

_§Talking§ -_Parseltongue Voices

**Disclaimer: I didn't know what to put in the disclaimer, so I'll just leave it to your imaginations.**

* * *

What the hell?

I normally don't curse, partly because I never really get angry enough to actually do it, but also because if I did… Aunt Petunia's wrath would fall upon me. And it wasn't that I didn't get angry at anything, because I did -a lot, actually- but to say it out loud meant I didn't know any other way to express myself _but _ to curse.

**"Oh, bollocks."** Because I did want to curse. So, so badly, I'd shout it to the heavens. There was only one explanation for this.

Someone out there hates me. I don't know who, I don't know why, but they seem to know I'm feeling something other than happy and they come and ruin my life.

Never mind that this time it's an actual _robot from space!_

This and every thought I have circle around, trying to find _some_ way to get out of this mess. And it hits me. In the metaphorical sense, that is, that I'm not actually powerless, I have magic -well Hermione's the one that knows something- and I have the watch. The transforms-into-aliens-with-amazing-powers watch. I _can_ do something, and I _can_ get us out of here, but still I'm wary. If the robot found us once, could it do so again? Could its master find us anywhere in the world or was it because I had the watch and it gave off my location? I didn't know and I -I wasn't sure. Was this what would always happen when I activated the watch? Chased by scary-looking robots and threats from World Conquerors?

I was half tempted to forget about owning the watch, of having it with me and just giving it back. Not one day and I had aliens after me, that wanted something from me. Something I found and wholly believed was now in my possession, so it was mine now. But it brought problems, it brought something I hadn't even contemplated; Someone else after it. It wasn't fair, it wasn't. Life with the Dursleys, the bullying, the wizards and now this. I didn't want to run anymore, but could I? Should I?

"Interrogative: Your answer."

**"I- I"** It wasn't giving me time! What was I supposed to do?!

"Declaration: Subject has failed to respond. Commencing watch removal. Declaration: No survivors."

No. I thought with horror. No survivors? It was going to kill me? Kill Hermione? I- I couldn't let it do that. If it was just after me, if I was alone, I could take it. Fight the damn robot and even if I died, it would have been better than to put Hermione in harm' way. She wasn't, she didn't need to be here, to die, because of me. If I had just listened to her… No, I decided, I am not going to let her die because of me. If I was going to run, it wasn't because I was afraid, it wasn't because I wanted to just keep the watch, I was going to run, right now, because I didn't want Hermione to die because of me, because I wasn't worth it.

Before my eyes, the world started to slow, my brain was speeding up and my body tensing. I could feel as the automatic knowledge came to me and told me how to use my new-found body. The robot was still speaking, slow, so, so slow, and to my side I could see as Hermione was still in shock over what was happening, probably just now understanding what it had said. If I was lucky, and if I did well, she wouldn't get to see that come true.

The process took less than a second, my body ready, my mind ready, and all just waiting for me. So I just _moved._

It wasn't that I was one second here and the next there. That would have been at speeds I don't think appropriate for the woods and surroundings, but I was faster than the average human, possibly faster than the average _alien_. So, with the outmost care I could make, in the shortest amount of time possible I: took hold of Hermione, pulled over her bag -some stuff fell off, but I got all the same in one swoop- threw it over her head and threw _her_ over my shoulder. Just then she was beginning to scream out in fright, unable to understand. **"Hang on, Hermione!"**

I didn't stop, not for her screams, not for its orders, not for anything. My only thoughts were in keeping Hermione safe. I was going as fast as I could, ducking and weaving between trees and bushes and all sorts of stuff I couldn't even really see because I wasn't paying attention to them. Just in getting out of there.

I couldn't go to the park, if people were there, if the robot started to target innocents because of me…

Instead I went deeper into the woods. Here most tress were but five feet between each other, I drastic difference and one I both liked and hated. Liked it because I could run just a little bit faster, clear the way just s little bit easier and see ahead just a little bit better. My worrying for whatever branch might be around the corner and being just the wrong way that it could hit me, or worst Hermione, dissipating. Hated it, because while I was hoping I could have lost the robot in my fast retreat, it didn't seem to be the case.

Its U.F.O. shape didn't stop it at all in any way. Mostly it stayed vertical, while moving around the trees, the spindling arms and legs, just moving and rotating, each when they could would fire shots at us, and while none hit us, they were getting closer. It was learning.

And at incredible pace, no less.

I knew it was reacting faster than me, faster than what I could do for the moment with Hermione here, but unless I found a safe area that I could dump her and make the robot chase after me, I was just putting her in more danger. It was a chase, a cat and mouse hunt, and I was the puny mouse. But I didn't falter, because I knew I had to do this.

It most have been minutes before I found some type o f hidden space between a rock and a fallen tree, it was more than enough to leave Hermione there, but again the robot was too close to do so.

By now, Hermione was still panicking but in a rather controlled manner, and she was helping me enormously by telling when to dodge and when it was gaining on us. I imagine it must have been rather difficult with her hair flying every which way, but I thanked her nonetheless because she saved us from so close encounters with laser beams.

I was gaining speed, carefully so as to not hurt her, but doing it nevertheless. I needed to go another round and make some distance before I could leave her. Thankfully the robot seemed to have some speed limit or couldn't keep up without crashing. I didn't know or particularly cared.

I must have been going over seventy miles an hour, or close. My alien didn't actually come with a speedometer, but it was fast enough that soon enough the robot was about two hundred or more yards away. I didn't know if that was actually enough -not actually knowing a thing about speed and distance- but I felt it should make a difference.

Rapidly making my way to the hiding spot, braking to a stop, it actually wasn't a complete stop, as I actually almost slided and if it wasn't for Hermione I would have done it. It actually seemed natural, or a good action, but she was too close to the middle of my back and I didn't chance it.

"Harry- what?" She was incredibly flustered when I let her stand, her bushy hair tangled up and he bag looked like it was on its last seams. Clothes in a disarray and she looked I didn't have much time so I just told her hurriedly to hide in there. She looked back at me incredulously and greatly confused. " What? You said it too fast!" Oh. I tried to slow myself, it wasn't as easy as the first time, I was patient, calm. Now my senses were all sky high just reaching out for whatever sound or anything told me the robot was nearing and they would just not stop!

I did my best, with what few seconds I had but when it was clear I couldn't calm down enough, I took some papers from her bag, which drew a 'Hey!' from her, but I ignored it. I wrote everything that I could in the span of three seconds. I think I could have actually done it faster, but the paper might have burned first from the friction. I wrote what I thought the alien I was as now did, what I heard the robot say, in case she hadn't, and some of my thoughts. Obviously, I didn't tell her that I almost thought about sacrificing myself for her, but everything that I think was important was there.

No more time.

My ears could hear it drawing closer, I shoved the paper into her hands, and pointed to the hiding place that more and more seemed like a good place for me to get in. I wasn't exactly patient and gave her a big push, she stumbled and almost crashed before righting herself. I saw her looking back at me and hesitate, but there wasn't enough time. Forgoing any delicacy I shouted at her. **"GO!" **

It actually came out like a high-pitched chipmunk, but I particularly didn't care. She understood and that was what mattered. Quickly taking cover, she disappeared from my sight. Good, I hoped the robot didn't have x-ray vision or thermal, but if it was just after me it wouldn't go after her.

Turning back to the approaching disk-shaped robot I snapped my head to the sides, the sound distant in my head, but it served to relieve some stress I had from the crick while carrying Hermione. It was happening again, I could feel it all slow down, snails crawled faster than the rate it was moving. I didn't know what I could do but keep it away from Hermione but I was well damn going to try.

The rate I was going earlier was nothing to what I was preparing to go at now. I got in a starters position, my eyes firmly on the robot as it drew closer. At one-hundred and fifty feet, or as close I could let come and I, for the second time today, _moved_.

This time it wasn't like while carrying Hermione. I felt a certain joy as I was running. Like the world was all at my back and I every little thing that kept me down was unable to catch up to me. It was exhilarating, indescribable. One moment I was as close to the ground as I could, everything from my head to my tail, just horizontal to the soil beneath to my same feet and then… it was like gliding… so fast not even a speck of dust stayed too long beneath them. If it wasn't for my brain processing everything so fast, it would all be a blur, no more than that, it would be a big smudge that just added colors and added more of those same colors into it.

The robot came to soon into range for my liking, I wanted to savor this experience. Run until the watch timed out and the get the alien back and run some more. But I could wait for that, if anything, it something to look forward to. I prepared myself and the small plan I had took flight. Literally.

As it came to less than thirty feet I jumped. I don't know the force or how it would all add up to my speed, but I had seen once a class documentary about racing cars crashing. It was actually supposed to warn us off racing, but many of my male classmates took it the wrong way and you could actually hear them playing it up and imagining such 'cool things'. Mentally I shook my head at that stray thought, even if it didn't actually take any time at all from the jump, but I didn't want any mistakes with this. I wasn't going to take a direct jump at it, what with its lasers, so I crisscross jumped between the trees, each landing reaching a higher height. The trees buckled under my weight and speed, some actually splintering or even breaking off parts in seconds after I left them.

The robot didn't waste time, its laser firing every place I was, problem was -to it- that I was going too fast, it tried to predict where I was heading but failed as I jumped at any place took my focus first, which was actually a lot in a few centiseconds, and took the choices of where it wasn't pointing at. I jumped around it, over it, under it, and sometimes even passing it by its front. Truthfully, I was playing with it, my brain was too fast, my body too agile and my speed too much for it. I don't think it was made to fight against someone like and while it might know that, its orders were probably unbreakable.

I kept it up, for some more time, even if inside I was playing it, I was also learning about it. I couldn't hope to understand how it work, I wasn't that smart, but the little things that I kept noticing piled up and gave some ideas. Like not every limb was for the lasers, not too many times one or two snapped to grab at me, but I was already gone from its claw's reach. The top cylinder could actually see 360 degrees but only in a horizontal way, and that it was learning. Whatever mistake it made, it didn't happen a second time, and while it was getting closer and closer to catching me, at my speeds it was actually a long time before it posed a threat.

That was when it all went to hell.

As I was crouching parallel to my latest tree victim a shot came out of nowhere, grazing my tail as I jumped away and making me lose precious momentum and balance. When I looked back to where it came from, for a moment my brain stopped. _Another goddamn robot!_ Of course there would be more! Their master was a conqueror, so _of course_ it would have back up. Stupid, stupid, how could I let myself get trapped like this! Ok, ok, I could still get out, the first one might have called for help, or in an even worse scenario shared its knowledge with it to capture me, but I could do this. Taking that it grazed me I'm going out on a limb and saying the latter was the more likely.

If that was true, then I couldn't let it go on. Within seconds I sped up to speeds faster than I had before, while maintaining enough control that the trees didn't fall from the landings _and_ continuously checking their positions. After a while, an opportunity came up, one had to go around a tree to keep me in sight, the other was about three, four jumps away, which to me was nothing. Gathering my wits, I gave up all caution and took it head on. If it took to my patterns then this would have shocked it -or the approximation for a robot- and left me a huge gap in its defenses. As I drew closer, I took all my strength and set off the last one. At the last jump I reversed myself, my legs, while as skinny as my arms, were longer and hopefully able to withstand the blow better. Then, I struck.

Suffice to say the force, the strength behind it was…tremendous.

Like a blazing comet, I came down upon it. My legs almost buckled under the sudden metal defense, strong as it was, yet not enough as I pressed so hard against it dented and cracked under pressure. Then I kicked once, twice, thrice. Each kick so fast, they seemed to be one. The orange-colored robot folded under me but it wasn't done. So I kicked again, and again, and again. I continued kicking, and kicking until every single part that was in front of me had my feet imprinted deeply into it.

It fell.

I was hoping it would. My plan was half mediocre, but I was really counting on it. On the air it had a high maneuverability that I couldn't quite match. On the ground though…

It crashed spectacularly, five-foot crater below it and spider-web cracks for twice as long. Here, on the ground, damaged beyond repair, jammed beyond hope, it was on my turf. As fast as I could, I took hold of the head, I was pretty sure this was a robot and nothing else, and with strength my normal human body might never posses, I ripped it out of its socket. The wires hanging by, and sparks flying off the ends signal its defeat and its body shut down.

I was left panting with a disembodied robot head and an otherwise significant amount of forest destruction. I was feeling something indescribable. It was like what someone felt after standing up to their aggressors and wining! It was amazing to now that I could do it, I could keep the watch, I could protect myself, I could protect Hermione and anyone else. With the watch, I think that but few people -or aliens- could threaten me. I wasn't going to be just Harry anymore…

It felt… good.

Wait, where was the other one? I swirled around, reaching out and catching everything I could, everything my brain could as fast as I could. Nowhere. Not to my left, not to my right, behind me? No. Then…Up!

Nothing. Where was it? Did it flee away? No, I don't think it was fleeing. Maybe, this Vilgax guy didn't want it to be destroyed, I mean, I don't know about space, but building a robot like that must cost a lot of money. So, why?

I don't think I'll figure it out now, but if anything I think, I think that if I keep the watch it won't be the last time I see them.

"Beep. Beep." I looked at the watch's sign on my clothes as it beeped. The red light flashes and I'm back to my normal self. No aliens. Just Harry.

With a heavy sigh, I stretch a bit. I'm not feeling particularly tired but with all that's happened, I think I could use a break. But that's for later, right now I have to make sure that robot is really gone before I go back for Hermione. This is when I'm actually at my weakest, just as a human, so if something appears, I'm really screwed but just as long as Hermione stays safe and away, then I'm ok.

"Harry!"

"Seriously? You couldn't that?" I muttered darkly to the sky. It wasn't that I actually wholly believed in God, but it gave a nice excuse to blame someone. Didn't she realize how dangerous it was right now? What if the robot came back? Well, what could I do?

With a heavy sigh I jogged towards her. She was slightly flushed, her hair a shadow of what it was, caked with dirt, leaves and sweat. It wasn't a nice sight.

"Harry!" she heaved when we were finally within distance. "How- Is- Are you- are you ok? Are they gone?" Her questions were filled with worry and it pleased to know someone out there could talk that way to me. With worry.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok. The, the alien I was… using?" Doubt filled me at that, but I casted it aside for the moment. "It was fast, like super fast. And the robot couldn't quite catch me. There was another, but it disappeared…" I was still waiting for it, but whatever happened, if it was an order from its master to retreat or it was hidden, whatever it was I wasn't seeing it. "I don't know if it's gone, so I was about to check but you came out of gap." She suddenly gave a wary look all around her, expecting it to come out of the bushes at any second as I was doing every few seconds. We waited for a minute, silence between us except for our breaths and the occasional wild animal. When nothing happened I continued. "I _think_ its gone, and the watch, well I think it doesn't stay as an alien for very long like we say with that rock one, so I don't know if we're safe here. Do you want to leave?"

She didn't say anything, but gave an enthusiastic nod, her eyes going everyway trying to find it. I don't think it would come back, but I left her to it, while I went to get her stuff.

All the way back she kept her eyes out, watching for every single thing. I was much more relaxed. The realization that the aliens in my watch could help me, to fight back, to do whatever I wanted…

Obviously, I wasn't about to break the law. Whatever was wrong with my uncle, at least he taught me right from wrong, if in his own special way. And the school as well, taught it, though not that strictly. But when you have over two-hundred children running around in the playground, well, it wasn't a Law and Order place.

And I wasn't strictly abiding either. Even if the Dursleys had taught me right from wrong. Sometimes I was too hungry or, dare I say it, rebellious, that I would simply swipe some food or even pastries out the fridge. The funny thing was, that with both other guys in the house eating like whales.

Those moments weren't my best ones, but I wasn't above doing some petty things.

There wasn't much we talked about on the way out of the forest. Hermione on edge while I took it calmly. Understandable, seeing as I was the one with the transforming watch, but I felt it something more than that. Still, I didn't ask. Partly because I didn't want to waver her concentration and partly because I wasn't that sure if I _should_. I had mentioned it before, but Hermione was, is, of a higher status, as Aunt Petunia.

We were… friends I think, if a few days could make us that, but she was still someone whom grew out to be better than me, and had a better right than me, as Uncle said. It was always that, what I always heard when I did something wrong. How normal people like them, like Hermione, were above me, because I wasn't _natural. _

Now I wondered. Were they talking about my magic? Was that about my freakishness? I had an inkling that was it. That was what they were always thinking about, talking behind closed doors. If they knew I was magical, then did they know my parents as well. Was one of them magical? I know that Hermione had told me they were both killed by an evil wizard, but was it because one of them was magical, or were both? Hermione had mentioned that some wizards did marry non-magical. Did they then do something to anger him? Because the other wasn't magical?

The why and all the other questions were something that always plagued me. I never believed I'd get answers because of how my aunt talked about my drunken parents. Turns out they were magical, and if they lied about that, what did that mean about everything else I was taught? What could I trust or know now?

"Harry?" I jumped a bit. Hermione was looking at me quietly, something incomprehensible in her eyes.

"Yeah?"

She was quiet for a few seconds. I left her gather her thoughts while I focus on my the wayward road. We must have been walking for an hour or so, I wasn't exactly running in circles running from Vilgax's robot, but while I knew what direction we went I wasn't exactly sure how far away it was. I wasn't keen on transforming again since I didn't know if I could get the speedster again. I had just realized that he wasn't exactly what I had pushed to become. It was some kind of four legged one, but I got that one instead.

Did that mean that the watch wasn't working properly, or was it that it knew what was the best one for me? What if it was sentient? Glancing at it, there was no change or response to such, but I wasn't expecting anything.

"I-" Hermione started again. "I know we talked about this before, but" She pressed her lips thin. "I think, that we have to, no, we _need_ to talk to my parents."

My head turned so fast I heard it crack. _"What?!"_ I nearly hissed. "What gives you the idea about that?! I asked you to not say anything, to keep it between ourselves!"

"And I did!" She snapped. It was so unexpected I recoiled a bit. " But I told you! I told you that it was dangerous, that it could kill us!"

"But it didn't!" Why couldn't she understand. Adults, they just took everything. They don't believe us, they don't trust us. They think they know everything! "It wasn't the watch Hermione, in case you haven't noticed. Without we could have died!"

And because of it, we almost did!" She replied hotly. Our tempers were rising, I could just see it as her eyes narrowed inch by inch every second. " I told you that, I told you! But you didn't believe me, because you were too busy fawning over that, that thing! That thing almost killed us Harry, it almost killed _you! _How can you take it so calmly!"

"I'm not Hermione! How can you think I'm even remotely calm. All I could think about was trying to stay alive, hoping that the watch didn't turn me back human while I was running God knows how fast, I was always, always thinking, trying to find out how I could keep you safe!" How could she even believe that?! I, I hadn't shown it, hadn't thought about it, because I was scared. I kept my thoughts firmly in what was happening now, distracting myself from the what I believe might just be the first and certainly _not_ the first fight of my life!

"It was a nightmare, a bloody nightmare having to run around that robot and try to _not get shot_!" I was yelling now, and I didn't want to stop. "When I ran, all I tried to think was of the feeling it gave me off, of the sudden happiness it brought me to run so fast and throw away the world at my back, I thought it like a game of tag, because it was the only way I could even think it would calm me. Off not thinking I'd _die!_

So don't you dare say I'm taking it calm." I was furious inside, my words were all but striking her down barely restrained as I was. She was holding herself back too, I could see, but all my pent up feelings just exploded, without warning, even I don't understand why it happened. I was just thinking about how I should treat her with respect, how she was someone better than me, and here I was seconds later, spitting words out.

Suddenly we were silent, our breaths heavy with all the yelling and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's throat is sore. She wasn't speaking to me, just looking at me, those chocolate eyes were seeing something, I wasn't even able to pick up, searching for maybe some hidden truth. I caved first and looked away..

Looking away, in shame. Ashamed of having exploded like that. She, she was only worried about herself, about me. What right did I have to blow up like that?

Finally she sighed, seemingly at calm, but I didn't know her enough to be sure. "Harry." She said in sad tone. "Look at me. Harry, please." She added when I didn't. When I didn't she gently cupped my chin and tried to move it, I resisted of course, but then again she wasn't using much force.

It took me a few seconds, but I did. I was expecting her to be upset, disgruntled even. Instead, I saw a worried face, tears barely held in her eyes, and this vulnerability in them… such that I wasn't sure if they were truly hers or mine reflecting in hers. "I understand," she began when I was fully facing her. "that you might not trust in anyone else about it, especially in adults." How she figured that one out, I don't know, but she was scarily smart enough that she might have just figured it out on her own. "But there _are_ those we can trust, you can trust. I don't know who do you have in your life that you think you can believe in, but I have my parents. And I, I believe that if you can't trust them, at least trust in me who trusts in them." She gripped my hands in what I imagine is assurance. I almost snorted at that, it sounded like a quote from some game.

Thing was, I didn't have anyone, I could explicitly believe in. The teachers weren't bad people, but they followed rules, and what the crowd believed, so if Dudley's friends said he didn't do it, then he didn't do it and I was the troublemaker. And I could understand that, I didn't have any concrete proof and the teachers no reason to believe me -Aunt Petunia saw to that, spreading rumors about me. I didn't know any other kids or their parents so I wasn't sure how things were done in other houses, but while I knew _some_ things that were wrong, again my word against theirs faltered.

So no, I didn't have anyone else to believe in, to trust.

The watch. It, I knew it was something amazing from the moment I had on, but I never believed it would bring me this. I had become… possessive of it. Not just because it was something from space, but because it was something that felt… mine. I don't know what it was, what I wanted from it, but I felt that with it, I could change, change things, change my life.

But, what if it was only a stopgap. Something that would give me a push, and I had to take them leap. Then, was this that chance?

She kept a passive face, nothing betrayed what she thought,, but I knew that she was waiting for my answer, to trust her.

Could I? We barely knew each other, no more than five days really, but again, this was that chance. If I didn't do it now, what was stopping me from never taking the leap in the future? It was a risk, one that I didn't like. In part, I was trusting someone with the watch, with telling her parents, and with my life.

Should I?

As I looked at her, she was in some things right. I couldn't do anything as I was. The watch had a timer, if that last robot had stayed… So I needed help, Hermione could, in the future. Maybe. But, right now, there was only her parents. The adults.

I didn't like it, but for my survival, I would. I'd trust her.

My hands still in hers, I gave her a small squeeze, and saw as she waited patiently. I think she already knew, or believed what I would do with just that squeeze, but, I guess, speaking it out would cement it.

"…Ok. Ok."

She gave me the biggest smile she could, and threw her arms around me. I stiffened for a second, unsure and unaccustomed, but otherwise let her hug me. Huh, a hug. So that's what they feel like. It felt… nice. "I know this is hard for you, but… thank you, Harry. For trusting me."I just nodded.

We stayed like that for a few seconds, before we parted and stood, I never noticed, but at some moment we were kneeling in the ground. Dusting off ourselves we headed back.

In some time, there was a certain ambient between us, Lifted, I think. We didn't talk much, but it was somehow easier and as if a pressure left me.

As her house, came into sight we slowed down. Ok, I slowed down. I wasn't going back on my promise, but the idea that it wouldn't turn out well made me hesitate. It was like getting home and telling your family your report card. You knew you had to do it, but you couldn't want but to lengthen the time.

Her parents' car was home. Lights on at the front porch. No other choice then.

We entered by the front, Hermione was surprised it was unlocked, and heard some voices. It sounded like her parents, and I realized that we took a lot of time. Sunset was almost coming and we must have been gone for hours. If they had arrived long ago chances are they were worried for her.

Hermione must have noticed the same because she paled a bit, softly biting her lip, as if indecisive. I think this might actually be the first time she was out of the house so late, and without telling them, and anxious at how they'd take it. From what I saw of them last night and this morning they were very doting on her, so chances were they were worried sick.

Still, whatever Hermione wanted to do was thrown out of the window when her parents' voices drew closer, "…Have they heard anything?... Well, I don't! Tell me then, Watson, How are things done?" Reproachful, she continued. "Because I mean, it's not like our twelve-year-old daughter just disappeared!" She shouted into the phone. I was actually surprised at her tone, nothing earlier said she was like that, and Hermione seemed to be of the same mind, so I'd like to think it was more an 'of the situation moment' thing.

She continued, talking -a little of shouting in it, as well- until she turned the living room corner, stopped and stared. Considering we were hours late, their daughter was missing, and reappeared dirty and half a mess, I think she took it pretty well.

Her eyes grew wide, alternated to look at us, and just said to the phone, "Never mind Watson, they're home." A pang came to me at hearing that. It was surprising how such simple words could hurt so much. I've been waiting to hear those words for so long… I wouldn't get much emotional, but suffice to say, it hurt. Just a bit.

I just waved a bit, unsure of how to act. Hermione just gave her mom a weak smile and said, "We're back," half enthusiastic.

Her mother rushed to her, throwing her arms around her and hugging the stuffing out of her. Hermione gave a squeak, rather surprised I think, and threw her arms around her mom. I think I heard her sniff a bit, but I wasn't sure. Her mom on the other hand, just continued to hug her, murmuring reassurance, whether to herself or Hermione I'm not sure. "She's here, she's here. Watson, she's here," she said into the phone. He must have said something because she just said 'Ok' and hung up.

She caressed her daughter's hair, messy and unruly as it was, she had a certain technique that quieted Hermione and left her rather calm. Some twigs or leaves came out of her hair, but her mother just gave them a confused and rather amused look.

I was still standing to the side, feeling rather uncomfortable. The situation seemed rather personal, and here I was in the thick of it, interrupting it. Either way, minutes later her father arrived, harried and out of breath. it occurred to me that he must have been running, trying to find his daughter. He did practically the same thing, worsening my situation, through no fall of his, but making me feel intruding all the same.

When they were done with their family moment, Ms. Watson, gave a small stroke to her daughter as she asked, "Honey, where were you? We were so worried. Your father and I were running up and down trying to find you."

"More like _I _was running up and down," her father grumbled.

"Hush, Watson," his wife said absentmindedly. "Hermione?"

Hermione just looked at both her parents with a small smile before looking at me unsure. I gave her a small nod, not trusting myself to lie about my- our situation. They were her parents, if she wanted to bring them into this, regardless of how reserved about this I was, then _she_ could do it. Besides, she knew them, obviously, much better than I did and the best way to tell them, or how.

Adults, to me, were just there. To them, laws and words and superiority become precedent to guts, and feelings and faith. Seeing is believing, and even then…

"Mom, dad…"

* * *

"**Author's note:**

**Well, that's over. Some might fuss over how short the fight was, but truth is, it was never about how big it was, more about what it represented. Harry now knows about Vilgax, and understands, somewhat, that he's just a kid. While he has the Omnitrix, he can't do it all by himself.**

**I hope you guys liked it, and Happy Thanksgiving days where ever you are.**


	4. You wanted magic, Harry

The Wizard Bearer Ch. 4

"Talking" -Normal Voices

**"Talking"** -Alien Voices

_"Talking" _Ommitrix Voice

_§Talking§ -_Parseltongue Voices

**Disclaimer: Did Ben ever bother to question what was it that the Omnitrix could actually do, **_**instead**_** finding out bit by bit? If so, I don't own Ben10 Or HP.**

* * *

The car door close softly as I stepped out, the slightly cold air making none of this easier as I stepped on the sidewalk. To my side, Wat- Mr. Granger stood, stone-faced, and silent as much. To be completely honest with myself, it unnerved me a bit seeing him like this. His smiling face and laughing voice the night and next morning after the watch's crash were swiped off, leaving a man, that, well, looked to wanting nothing to do with me.

It wasn't surprising, really. While Hermione had done a bang-up good job at explaining what had happened, the most obvious of reactions occurred. Disbelief, which faded after I showed them the watch, wariness, fear and anger, worry, caution, and many things. All not exactly at me and the most negative just for me, as was well expected. Hermione was their daughter, a witch, no doubt, and they were getting to grips with that, they were learning at the same pace as her, if not a bit slower, but they were. And now, well, adding aliens and dangerous watches into the mix might have been just a _bit_ too much for them.

Surprisingly, they didn't throw me out at the first chance, but I was definitively left alone, Hermione being sent to her room, and quite possibly forbidden from seeing me for the rest of the night. And the morning.

At those moments, I think I felt a pang of jealousy, no matter how absurd it sounded, but what they showed… it meant they cared for their daughter. They were scared, a lot, I think, but they plowed on, trying to get some sense of normality back, and the result was, unexpectedly, the first thing they were going to do.

"Thanks for the ride, Mr. Granger." I voiced softly. The man gave only a grunt in return, busy giving a glance at the neighborhood. For whatever reason, I don't know, but I stayed silent in return.

He gave himself a nod, satisfied. The neighborhood in turn answered nothing, as always it kept its singular, conformed, boring self. No differences, no imagination, just a sense of sameness. No one would change their house's looks and as such no one dared. Without someone making the first step, no one would follow, and even now, after ten years living here, that made me… uneasy.

He took a soft, but firm hold to my shoulder, as if to guide me, or so I wouldn't run away, and walked me to the door. The cemented steps to the door made my feet sound of lead, heavy and uncertain, I walked to the house. House, not home. Never home. I don't think I've ever felt the definition of what a home meant, and this place never felt much like it. In truth I wasn't abused per se… but rather I was the mule of the household, doing everything -within reason- with hardly anything to show for it.

I wasn't beaten, but with Uncle Vernon's temper around me, there were _moments_ he couldn't hold back. Naturally, after a night, I had heal, probably thanks to my magic, which would in turn spurn him on, making it a vicious cycle. Not that things escalated into the extreme, but… there are things one would rather not experience.

Of course, no one, I think, would believe me. aunt Petunia had made it her life's goal to ridicule and paint me as a liar, a troublemaker, someone that good, law-abiding citizens shouldn't socialize with. And she did it, she won at that. People went out of their ways from walking up to me and striking a conversation, from sitting by my side in case any trouble rose _by no trouble on my part_, and generally giving me a bad reputation. Teachers would rather listen to Dudley and he's gang, knowing how he truly was, whilst I, I have lived my life alone.

I had hoped to end that when I met Hermione, have a friend, but whether because of my own doing, or because her parents would have never acted any different it's sure to be the end of that. My first friend. Gone.

The doorbell rang, courtesy of Mr. Granger, and he just kept silent, staring directly ahead and impatient by the way I saw him fiddle with his shirt's end.

From inside the house I heard Dudley yell 'Mom!', making aunt Petunia stop whatever she was doing. Great, he was there. I had high hopes he would have been with his friends, telling them all about what happened, but no luck.

Around a minute later, the door opened. aunt Petunia was there, with a smile there, "Hello, Good Mor-" she stopped mid sentence when she saw me, her eyes grew wide in astonishment and she nearly closed the door in shock before she hold herself in check. "Boy," she whispered, where have you been?! We were so worried!"

Wait, what?

Apparently, Mr. Granger was off the same thought, since he too looked taken aback, clearing his throat and interrupting her. "Mrs.…"

"Dursley, Petunia Dursley."

He nodded, "Mrs. Dursley, young Harry here was with my daughter when the small earthquake happened-"

"He didn't do anything, did he? Goodness knows he's just all sorts of troublemaker." She _excused_ herself in my stead, while doing what she did as always and bringing my personality to the dumps.

"No, hmhm, he actually helped her, they were near the site were it was strongest and he hurried to have her out of there. She was actually in my arms not long after, but when we went to look for you, his caretakers, he realized _you were gone._"

I got to hand it to Mr. Granger, he's accusatory tone stopped her in her tracks. She was caught, she knew it, I knew it, and he knew it, and she knew that he could damage her reputation, he could talk with the coppers, and then everyone in the neighborhood would know. And to my aunt, where everything she did was pay attention to the wives' rumor vine and raise atop the other ones as the prim and proper and most well-ff of them all, the one who's family was the envy of the street, _that_ was worse than death to her.

Whatever her response, I wouldn't hear it as Uncle Vernon took the opportunity to come down the stair, thumping rather hard as he usually did when I was inside my cupboard. He looked rather happy, like when he had a raise or had a rather big sale in the company. he was whistling as well, but when he rounded to the hallway and saw us he it fell off. Shock, complete shock set into him, and I would have found it funny had I know not what came after it.

Like a kettle about to boil over he kept his mouth shut, but his face grew pink from anger. I was honestly expecting him to explode a bit, but it seemed that with Mr. Granger here he held it off. On the other hand, Mr. Granger put a bit of pressure on my shoulder, no doubt from seeing my uncle and slyly shielded me and stood in front of me. Uncle's whistling gone, he pounded his feet towards.

Distrustfully he asked Mr. Granger, "Who are you?" he gave me a side glance, "And why do you have the boy? Did he cause you any problems? I have to say I'm sorry about that, but this boy is a troublemaker, you never know when…"

"Mr. Dursley," Mr. Granger interrupted sharply. Uncle narrowed his eyes at the man's rudeness even as his face grew redder. "This boy was with my daughter-"

"Ah, I see. Did he get her in trouble? I assure you-"

"-in your _company's picnic._" When uncle processed that, it was like he's brain shut down, and he went into reboot. Paling in seconds, he went into a stumble trying to spit out some excuse. It sounded something like they were so agitated that they forgot about me but Mr. Granger didn't put up with it. He held his and up, stalling uncle's excuses. "It really doesn't matter. In my case, I understand trying to save your family and forgetting in the rush, but pray that it doesn't happen again or you'll find yourself on the wrong side of a jail." Somehow he loomed over my uncle, continuing he's not-so-subtle threat. "Are we clear?"

Vernon was clearly getting madder, but he kept his mouth shut, worried about how the stranger could ruin him.

Mr. Granger nodded and turned to me, "Now, be safe Mr. Potter. I don't expect to hear from you in the evening news, got it?" In short, don't make me regret letting you go. Which was kind of fair, considering his connections.

He had given me a whole speech about that. Been an avid fan of comics and movies he gave me the short speech about how it was such a big responsibility, but at the same time, he understood why I'd hide it. Considering how many governments could try to exploit the watch, he was wary of contacting ours. Still, being an adult, he knew many people and he was going to try and get in contact with someone high in the totem pole, someone he trusted, so if the watch was dangerous they could figure out a way to get it off me, and if not, then see if they could help me explore its uses.

I wanted to argue about that and try to make him see why I didn't want that to happen, but he cut me off, saying that sometimes we had to do things that not everyone would want or could do, even if it didn't make others happy, we had to do them, because they were the right thing to do.

I hated that.

I hated how it made me sound as if I didn't care about others and painted me selfish, that I _was_ selfish, someone that didn't care for right or wrong, only for me and the watch. But most of all, I hated how somehow I felt that he was right.

It was something I had found, something that in these short days grew attached to, and I didn't want anyone else to have. Maybe, just maybe, because it was my first personal object. Nothing bought my aunt Petunia, not obligatory hand-me-down clothes, and not charity gifts, but just mine.

Was it so wrong to feel this way then?

I was to be grateful, even when nothing was done for me, to always have in my mind that my uncle sacrificed much in my name, even when I didn't see what it was, to be happy that they fed me and clothe me even when I made the food and the clothes weren't really mine…

It was how I was supposed to live, being grateful, and now that I had the watch Mr. Granger wanted me to be grateful, grateful that he was thinking about me, trying to figure out how he could help me, when all I really wanted was for him to not say a word and let me live my life.

Was I in the wrong then?

Maybe I was really being selfish, and maybe I was just being a stupid ungrateful child, but couldn't I just be that? Just learning that, and living my life, instead of feeling like I should always look up to my betters, my superiors, the adults? I truly didn't know, but I wanted to just… I don't know… to be my own person, maybe live my own life. Just me, the watch, and whatever came my way.

I look to them, my uncle's angry face and how he was fighting to stay calm, my aunt that looked like she swallowed a lemon, and Mr. Granger, intruding into my life because it was the right thing to do. Did I want to be like them?

"Good day, Mr. Potter." Mr. Granger said at last, giving me a last look and nodding off to uncle as he turned around back to his car. Uncle just gave him a really forced smile, keeping up the pleasantries and waiving away. I knew part of it was to make it seem to the neighbors that they had parted on good terms, but it still surprised me how long he kept at it.

"Get in the house, boy," he hissed through his teeth. I dutifully followed, careful to keep the watch hidden behind my sleeves, and for once thanking Dudley in my mind for being so fat. He's clothing would really help me out. It was really lucky on my part that Mr. Granger had lent me one of his smaller shirts, the long and wide-end sleeves keeping the watch hidden. With Dudley's hand-me-downs, I could hypothetically keep it from them for the rest of the summer, barring anything unsuspected happening. And in any case, if Hermione was right, if Hogwarts really would send me a letter, then if I was there then they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

The people from Hogwarts might find out about it, and try something, but I'd try to take care of it when I'd get there. Perhaps they might even find out of a way to safely get it off of me, if I could do that, then I could trick everyone else from this side that I didn't have it, it be perfect!

The door didn't slam close. That was the first thing that gave me pause. Uncle always, always slammed it close. Didn't matter if he was tired, upset, or even happy, he did it no matter what. The only times he hadn't done so when…

"Oof!" I slammed into the wall. Uncle's fat hands took hold of me, grabbing me by the shoulders as he propped me up. I flinched as his grip clenched tighter and made me flinch from the pain. With both hands he took a handful of my shirt and raised me off the ground. I panicked, my legs kicking in front of me. Not to hurt him, but to find ground. I was too high, nothing close for me and my watch might just be seen with how he pulled the shirt. I wanted to hit his arms since I was beginning to choke a little from the way he had me, but that would make the watch visible so I tried to push up from the wall with my hands, trying -and failing- to find space.

"Vernon!" My aunt hissed reproachfully to my uncle. She was by his side, trying to get him to calm down and softly putting her hands on his shoulder to get him to put me down.

He was furious, livid even. His face actually purple from it, and breathing heavily enough that I could smell what he had for lunch. Mashed potatoes with gravy and steak. He glared at me, not letting me down at all, but doing nothing else. I was still squirming but with him just holding me I had a better time of it. Not dying but really uncomfortable.

"Listen here boy. If anything happens, _anything_, that makes that me lose my job, it'll be on your head. You hear me? I don't know how your freakishness made him help you, but if you try anything, if he does anything…" he let the threat go unfinished but I didn't need to hear it. I heard it loud and clear. My mind spinning on its own and giving me unpleasant ideas. A shudder escaped me, which seemed to be enough for him as he let go off me, living me without hold "Good," he said as he dusted off his hands like I was nothing more than a minor inconvenience at the moment, and if this had just not happened, I might have believed it.

I slumped to the floor, any strength that I had left me. With small shallow breaths I looked back towards uncle Vernon. He was walking away, down the corridor to the kitchen while aunt Petunia followed him quietly talking to him and before she closed the door to the kitchen gave me this… strange look, that I had never seen on her, and closed it.

I stayed there for a few minutes, just listening to my breathing as it came in heavy turns. There were not many times when I had a scary experience like that, and this one came close to the top five, yet funnily I didn't feel like this when I fought those robots. I mean, I _was_ scared, who wouldn't be? But… there was something, whether because I was actually an alien at the moment or somehow I just didn't really think about it that hard at that moment, but that moment wasn't as scary as this one. If anything, I think that I got that scared because I was untransformed, had I chosen to do it here…

Well, not that I would. There was already too much at stake with the Grangers knowing. I didn't need my uncle trying to get me killed or captured, not to mention how people would take it if they saw me. No, perhaps it was better that I took it like that. Weak, defenseless Harry Potter wouldn't fight back, but maybe, in the future, Strong, armed, and transformed Harry Potter could do something about it.

Suddenly my exhaustion caught up to me and I headed to my room. It might have been morning, but I spent the rest of last night awake, just waiting for the police car's sounds as they came around the corner, obviously they didn't come, but neither did my sleep.

I entered the little room under the stairs and without prompt fell asleep.

And that's how I went. Days came in a blur, with morning waking up in sweat and panic, just waiting for a policeman or an alien to have woken me up, but it was just Dudley's stomps on the stairs. I would wake up, prepare breakfast for them, eat my scraps and tend to that day's chores. There was little time that I had to myself, and if it wasn't because I was so paranoid I would have thought that aunt Petunia had found out about the watch and would find ways to keep me from experimenting.

Still, I hid as well as I could. When I was fully finished with my chores, when I went out on my own, every little chance that would let me stay out for hours on end, I took it. Uncle didn't get that mad about it, surprisingly. I think he liked it when I wasn't in his view or in his house for a long time, and honestly I did so as well.

And I learned. I learned everything I could from the watch. every alien, I took to transforming at least once, and in some cases I tried to stay in them all day. From the little guy that made me a hundred times smarter to the dog-like one that made me experience a whole new way to 'see' my world. Honestly, it was all so exciting and if it wasn't that I took it in every day, I would have overloaded by now with all that's happened.

But even then, I started to notice that the watch, well, it had something wrong. It was little things at first, maybe I would stay fifteen minutes with it, maybe doing the craziest things possible with an alien, and then I would just stay in one, sitting, feeling everything around me with just it, to see how things looked at it, but I would last no more than five or seven minutes.

Then, sometimes, the alien I actually choose, would not come out, instead one of the others. At first I thought that maybe I was pressing the wrong way, or just plain bad luck, but with a little of experimentation I learned that it was damaged.

Well, maybe not damaged, after all, I didn't know squat about it, but there was something that was wrong with how it was working. Maybe it was when it crashed and something jumbled out of its place, or the creator made it like that, or possibly a thousand things else, but what I understood was that it was at times, unreliable. Maybe it was even just the way it worked. I didn't know, there wasn't any way for me to figure it out, the little alien guy might have helped but with the inconsistencies I wasn't sure how I could.

So, unfortunately, I'd have to figure it, as slow as I could.

God, I wish Hermione was here.

It was weird. Suddenly not having her there. She, we only knew each other for a few days, but we had so much happened in them, all of it having to do with the watch that, that I sometimes feel the need to just look at my side, and ask her something. And it's stupid. We don't even know each other, we really didn't. And somehow… it's not that I feel lost, but rather that she helped so much in so little time, that it felt better when she was there, just reading those books, and answering those little questions, those things, it _helped_ that someone was there, just… being there.

Now, it's gone, that feeling I mean. Maybe it wasn't just Hermione, maybe if someone else had come I'd still feel the same, but she was the one that helped then and the one that I think could do that now. She was, for however short, my friend.

Still, I tried to forget my feelings for a moment, take on the watch's dilemma head-on and just forget that I was alone once again. As of the moment I had transformed into the alien I was calling Accelerate or XLR8 for short. It was his shtick, what he had literally turn out to be, everything about his body was made to stretch out, to pass what was known to normal people, to humans specially. So XLR8, it felt right. Besides, it gave him a sort of, well I don't know how to call it, except that it made him feel mine. More so than before. The others are also getting names, but XLR8 was the first one that I used actively, Diamondhead not counting.

As XLR8, whenever I actually transformed into him when I wanted, I took trips. Imagine, an eleven year-old, travelling alone, almost every day, watching every corner that I could. I travelled my home town. Every street, every alley, I passed them by, so fast that people barely noticed something, yet somehow keeping from breaking streets and windows, passing so close to the cars I could knock on _their_ windows and going even faster than them.

It was exhilarating. After that, I went to another town, another city, another place. Never too far than I couldn't come back by the end of the day, but still many times I had cut it close. I use Wildmutt, and in some case Stinkfly when the night was dark enough and I could fly high enough. _And I could fly!_ It was even better that running, it was so, so freeing. Being up there. There wasn't just a straight back and forth, go left or right, it was all sides, every way, it was confusing at first and wonky, it made me scared that the watch would turn me back when I was hundreds of feet up in the air,

But then, I felt it.

The air, the wind on me, around me, over me, under me. I felt my wings shift ever so slightly and I was going in a new way, it was so, so awesome. Words weren't there, didn't come to me at those moment, even later, even know. Stinkfly was perhaps my favorite one, just because he could fly like he did. I mean, there is another one, ghost type one, but I don't like using him, he feels wrong, like something different from the other ones, and I'm not sure if it's just how he is, how everything around me feels, if it just me, or something not-me.

But with XLR8 I was doing something, that none of the others could do, none could even think to do. I was, well, I was cheating.

Not in the real sense of the world, but there wasn't any other way that I could explain it. Each one, had thing, something that made them useful, not just in their obvious ways, but that if I used them how could then I did things I, or even another alien couldn't.

I usually started with one I was calling Grey Matter, his intelligence, was simply -and literally- out of this world. He could do humanly impossible calculations, complete puzzles in record time and had thoughts that later made me think I was a dumb animal compared to him, I maybe didn't even have a tenth of his intelligence. Not even any other human on this planet, now that I thought about it. It wasn't even funny.

I thought everything I could, everything that made the world, my world, the sky, the sea animals, everything in between and every book I could get my hands on. Everything, and then I studied it.

All of it, I took it. Made these little balls of thoughts, of that one little particular subject and study it, expanded on it, looked into it, and inferred almost always correctly into it. And when I was back to default I held on to it and then, I let it free.

So many thoughts, so much knowledge, just getting crammed into me, all sometimes so much that I'd get a headache or even once passed out for a few hours, but I did it. I gained knowledge. My brain accommodated it all, and with techniques from the Grey Matter's own thoughts and ways I found out how to trick myself into holding on to those thoughts.

I was pretty sure that that the creator never thought of this, or if he did it wasn't something anyone would think of doing. Honestly, I wouldn't really have done it, if it wasn't by mistake. I was reading up on mathematical questions, equations that served to set off the community to reach new thoughts and figure out nuggets of knowledge about the universe. Just to see if I could understand them.

As I was reading up on millennium problems, the watch timed out. Normally I would have whined and mutter quietly to it, but I was so wrapped up about it that I barely notice. What I did notice was that a few minutes later, I could still understand it, well, the parts I had read and cleared while as Grey Matter. It wasn't exactly that the intelligence from Grey Matter stayed with me, but with his knowledge what I had read was made easy for me to understand even after the transformation was gone.

So I used it to my gain. If I could read things, things beyond my own intelligence then use XLR8 to write the knowledge and everything I figured out with Grey Matter. I'll be using that knowledge later on to write out my understandings in case I forget them or that the process is only temporary. I don't know what or why this is happening but I planned to abuse the hell out of it.

* * *

The bacon fizzled softly as I turned it, the fat gave enough so that it didn't stick to the pan, while I began whisking the eggs to make the omelets. Omelets because it wasn't for me, but for Dudley and his dad, as Petunia was getting some things done upstairs. I didn't know what, but the same end was that as always I made breakfast.

It was no surprised that with how busy I became, between the watch, my chores and studying just about everything I could get my hands on, time passed just as fast and in no time, just a week before my birthday my day changed drastically.

With breakfast done and served, I headed to the door where the mail came minutes before. Why uncle or Dudley didn't pick it up when they could is beyond me, but I guess I'd thank them because as I took them and sorted through them, I saw it. A letter, dedicated all to me.

"Mr. H. Potter The Cupboard _under_ the Stairs, 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. " I whispered. It was here. The letter. My letter for magic, the one that connected me to that other world and made me remember that I wasn't alone. That Hermione wasn't lying.

And then suddenly, I noticed. The Cupboard _under_ the Stairs. They knew. How did they know? Was it magic, really? Or were they watching? I mean, was Hermione right then. If I was so famous then shouldn't I have someone watching over me? Someone, someone who knew what I went through… and they didn't tell everyone? I wasn't that religious, being raised with people like uncle, but God, what was wrong with this people? How could they-

_Breath Harry, breath, _I told myself. It was just, I just had to get through to it. It didn't matter, there was nothing to do with it now. It just got to show me that they weren't to be trusted. It wasn't nothing new, it was normal, it was fine. It was. I couldn't freak out now, not now.

Shakily, I hid the letter inside my shirt, the hem of my pants pressing it uncomfortably into me. Like a weight that hung to my hips, it somehow felt heavy. It was, in a sense I think, heavier than the watch.. It carried, like the watch, a whole other world. If I answered, I could actually know of another world and not figure out as I'm trying with the watch. It would be one where there weren't no Dudley, no Vernon, no chores, no… aliens, no watch.

And suddenly, it sounded and made me felt uncertain. What was I supposed to do there? How was I supposed to act there? Like a celebrity? Humble? _Like Dudley?,_ I thought with revulsion. Would it be better if I didn't just answer? I didn't know, I don't think I'd know right now, so for the moment, the letter would just stay there. Against my hip with an unforgettable itch. I'd rather think about it at another moment. Think about the watch vs. magic.

With uncertain caution, I went back to the kitchen, slowly opening the door, but not enough to make it seem like I was hiding something.

Everything continued as it was. Uncle sat in his chair, his belly hitting the table and even going over it, while Dudley dressed to go ate at speeds I think XLR8 would be proud, or right down disgusted. I don't know.

Minutes later, aunt Petunia came downstairs, prim and proper. "Come on, Dudley. Time to go," she said. Dudley grumbled, but said nothing as he finished his third serving in one big gulp. I thought he was going to choke on it, but no such luck., he was already accustomed to eating that way. I didn't know where they were going, and while I had no such need to know, I needed to be sure of how long they'd be gone so I could plan accordingly. Still, aunt Petunia would find it weird if I asked, so I tried to figure out how to broach the subject.

Luckily, uncle did it for me.

"Pet, honey," he said without looking away from his newspaper, "where are you going again?"

She rolled her eyes in fond exasperation, something I was surprised to see. I never did figure out why she would marry him. I know she wasn't the prettiest of women but, still…

"I told you already Vernon, we have a little bit of shopping to do, and then we're going to the," she stopped for a second and looked at Dudley, whom was playing with his handheld videogame Game Son or something, and whispered, "_dentist._"

Dudley's head whipped up faster than I could grow a crystal over Diamondhead's arm. "The what now?!" he asked scared.

"Ohoho, darling," she chuckled, "I said the barber, the barber. It's time for a haircut, don't you think?" She passed her hand over his hair, holding out a lock of hair and tried to distract him, which worked as expected.

"Are you sure?" he asked suspiciously. When she nodded, he gave a one arm shrug and muttered 'Ok'.

I saw aunt Petunia let out a sight and give her husband a look. It was weird seeing them this normal... Most of the time when I was there, it would be so tense. aunt Petunia finally turned her eyes towards me, giving me a frown and seconds later a scowl. "You remember your chores today, boy?" she asked tersely. I gave her a simple nod. Most of the time, just staying silent worked for them and for me.

Uncle Vernon snapped his newspaper close, "He won't be in the house lazing in around, that's for sure. Not while their honest folk working during the day. I won't have that in my house!"

I'd have rolled my eyes, but I had better preservation skills than that. Still, I did as ordered, as expected, and after a toast and some water went out to the backyard to tend to the garden. It was monotone, boring work. I could do it mechanically, while thinking about other things. So many times done I think I could do it in my sleep.

Waiting until I heard Uncle leave, as aunt Petunia had taken the minibus, and his car roaring away. I stopped right there. Most of the work I had done yesterday, and whatever was left I could do in seconds with XLR8, though the idea of using an alien as a gardener seemed pretty funny. Still, now that they were gone, the question came back again, the one I didn't want to really think about: What would I do?

Would I answer the letter and enter a world so different from this one and find out about myself, about my parents, and my own magic, or would I forget about them? Would I go on figuring out the aliens, their strengths and weaknesses and find out not about hidden worlds here, but about world out there? It all seemed so hard to choose from, couldn't I do both? That was my immediate answer, and probably my easiest one. I could, in theory just do that, forget about the troubles either one brought and just focus on what I gained in turn. An education, a real one, that suited to me, where the teachers didn't ignore me because they had heard that I was a troublemaker, where no one believed Dudley over me and I could start fresh, finally make friends, meet people like me and even talk with Hermione again.

Hermione, thinking about her made me grimace. Not her per say, but the whole situation behind it. What would we do, when we met, _if_ we met over there, would she ignore me, forget about all we went through in those short days, or would she welcome me with open arms and a big hug that made me as uncomfortable as she was bushy?

That was a can of worm I wouldn't open yet.

But if I didn't go, and I didn't get my magical education, that would mean staying here, staying in school and going to Stonewall High? Where Dudley's gang could continue to bully me? Where it would happen again, me with no friends as the teachers heard and rumored of the troublemaking boy, the boy with no friends and bad tempers? No I didn't see much good about that, none at all, really.

So, the question was, would going to the wizarding world be worth it? Posing as a celebrity, as Hermione called me 'The Boy Who Lived' and possible suffer a different kind of attention? I didn't really want all that attention. I just wanted to be Harry, just Harry if at all posible.

And would I be good at it, being a wizard? What if I failed, what if everyone's hopes disappeared once they saw me? Ugh, this was so hard, I wish I could just see-

Wait, that's it!

Energized by my idea I finished in record time, the garden gaining fresh, clean look as all the weeds were uprooted and any branch out of place was cut, keeping the shrubbery clean-cut, just like aunt Petunia liked it.

Swiping my hands off the dirt and taking the hidden key behind the vase next to the garage -Uncle didn't know I knew about it, but when I'm cleaning the front and back of the house for months, I tend to find things- and entered the house. Careful to not leave any dirt marks, though I could always just clean it back, but I was in a hurry. I took a bath, for once using mildly hot water, and taking a bit longer than I was used to.

Using my best over-sized shirt from Dudley, I hid the watch, no sense in letting people see it and asking about it, and headed to the phone. I had memorized the number, didn't need aunt Petunia throwing it out. They answered at the fourth ring.

"Hello? Emma Granger speaking." Hermione's mom answered. Perfect, she struck me as the most sensible of her parents.

"Ms. Granger? It's Harry."

"Oh, Harry." she said after a pause. "I'm wasn't sure you'd call us, is something wrong?"

Her asking for my wellbeing stunned me for a moment, not having many ask me that, but I recovered quickly. "Ye-yes, hmm, yes, I was wondering if I could speak to Hermione for a moment, I had a question to ask her."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea Harry." She took a breath, and rapidly apologized, "Not that I'm grateful for all you did, I am, we are, all of us, even if my husband doesn't show it, but…"

I felt a knot in my throat, her soft rejection taking me all the more with the nice way they had treated me before we told them about the watch. "No. no, I understand. It's about the um, the thing we have in common?"

She took a moment, seemingly thinking back to whatever it could be, but she quickly got it. "Oh, yes, is it something about that? Don't tell me you got in trouble already with that side?" Her tone had a soft teasing quality that I had heard never from Dudley and his gang.

I gave a chuckle as I answered, "No, no, actually, I wanted to know where she bought her stuff, I, uh, got my letter, today, and I wanted to check it out."

"Oh, that's good Harry, that's so nice for you."

"Thanks," Was all I could say.

"Um, let's see." I heard some pages brushing from her side, a paper book or something being looked over."Its, sorry, with me and Watson not being magical we need to keep it marked, you know," No, no I didn't. So much I don't know. "because otherwise we forget it, hidden and all that. It's at Charring Cross Road, between Charring Cross Books and Circle. To me and Watson it looked like a rundown shop, but it wasn't until Hermione took us by the hand that we could see it, so I guess you'll be lucky to see at first glance, Harry. Even now after telling you it got really fuzzy to me, the address."

Huh, that sounds like really powerful. Still know I had a place, with XLR8 I could get there in minutes, and enter. "Thank you, Ms. Granger."

"No problem, Harry," I could hear her smile through the phone. "Glad to help. Now you be careful, ok. get your relatives to have some money on hand and you can change it at the bank. The goblins can be a bit scary, but if you deal with them professionally they'll treat you right. And fast. They like to deal with humans fast, don't forget that," then she muttered, "God knows I won't." I don't think I was supposed to hear that, but I still did. Even so, I didn't ask, already having what I wanted.

"Ok, Ms. Granger. And, again, thanks again."

"Sure, and Harry…"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry," she sounded regretful, truly. I didn't say anything, words, whatever I would say, left me. "Hermione misses you, in her own special way, and if things were a bit different… God …maybe…"

I, what would I say to that? "Good bye, Ms. Granger."

"Wait, Har-" I hanged up the phone, silence permeating the house. God, I couldn't stand it any longer. She was too nice, to caring, or maybe it was normal kind of caring, but to me? It was more than I had had in a long time. If I had a mother like her…

I stilled my hand, yet my whole body trembling. With a sigh, I let it out. That was… not how expected it to go. I didn't imagine she'd be like that. Sensible, yes, but not caring. For someone like me? It was too much. It was something that I wish I had gotten a long time ago. Now though…

I left the house, careful to leave it as clean as I entered it before and leaving the key back in its hiding place. Afterwards I made my way to Little Whinging's park. Though not as lush and taken care of as Hermione's the park offered as the same as the other, just older models. With tire sets, monkey bars loosed from their sets, and rackety swings that if you swung hard enough they might topple, I'd know, I saw it happen to Dudley. That day still brought a smile to my face.

But what I wanted to do wasn't here, but next to it.

The old house next door was. Unused and unneeded by the owners for almost five years, it had being barred down by the weather and negligent maintenance. There was a whole problem here a few years ago with some boys having being found doing things they shouldn't have been doing parents had barred their children from even stepping close to it. aunt Petunia had being specially vocal about it to Dudley, he had hemmed and hawed but she didn't let up and had even promised to take away his toys if he even dared. Suffice to say, Dudley took it to heart and to this day he even looks at it in fear.

But I wasn't. Whether because I myself was never cautioned or given a speech I didn't find it scary or dangerous to my health. If someone saw me and told aunt Petunia, I'd probably still get in trouble, but for now I'd take the chance.

Getting in by the small hole in the fence in the back of the playground I crawled the rest of the way there, crouching behind the house and entering by the backdoor. Dust and cobwebs greeted me and the far end of the room. I had already cleared most if not all the ones that were in the entrance but by how many spiders I had seen before they had a strange need to cover it all over again, no matter that I came back the next day.

Dusting off anything that got on my clothes, I prepared myself. Wishing myself luck so that the watch got it right on the first time, I rounded on XLR8's figure and pressed it. Instantly the change occurred, as every other time.

It started inside me. At something beyond cellular level. It was as my body changed and I recognized which one I had gotten that I felt as my own senses transformed, no longer was it just the simple sense of feeling wind or heat on my skin, nor seeing via simple eyes, no it was much more and less.

It was registering heat and air in my surroundings, it was having a single eye that was stronger and clearer than my other two would ever be. It was my body losing its flesh, its bones, blood and organs. It was me discarding my human form, my organic form. It was more, it was less.

I was suddenly an inorganic object, amorphous was the word and I its definition. Not one shape, or form, I had the fluidity of water and the solid shape or gelatin, yet strong enough to lift a small truck.

It wasn't that I didn't like this form, but afterwards it made me uneasy. There was something about losing my default way, different from even transforming into XLR8 or Grey Matter. I think it was mostly about how I didn't actually hear things, or saw, or touch, or even tasted. I didn't have a sense of smell, I just had little programming's that did that for me, that told me everything that happened outside my body and I realized, I knew, how it all acted, because I was aware even as it happened. It was like being aware of blinking and breathing, every moment of my life, directing when to close my eye and how long I hold a breath. It was a bit upsetting, if I downgraded my reaction, but nothing I couldn't handle and adapt to as I did it more and more.

It was less because I was losing myself, losing what made me human, what made me just Harry, and I didn't completely like it. It was a different way of thinking and seeing the world, completely different from any other alien except one other, one I really didn't like thinking about.

The transformation ended, the green flash, so similar to my eyes, flaring for a few seconds before going away and in its place I stood, inorganically moving flesh. With my one eye in the center of my round head, two big burly hands and an equally round body. Not fat, there wasn't any way it could be call fat when it didn't exist in this body, but round all around. Black with green lines, running like some kind of circuits, that considering he's powers made sense. With clothing hung to my body, from below my arms to both front and back and all the way down to my feet. The watch laid in the center of my chest for all to see.

I didn't waste time, already having past knowledge on how to use him.

I went to the wall, an open circuit ready for me. With a deep breath, or as close as I could replicate with this alien, I stuck my hand forward. The moment I touched it a spark flew and with it I as well into it. Down into the cable and the house's electricity. It wasn't as fast as XLR8 but I came closest out of all the aliens. The materials that made to connect every light, every switch and other utilities around the house, all of those I could get there in less than half of a second. Like electricity I ran the current and from the house I got on to the sidewalk, jumping to a street lamp and in three seconds I was in as many streets over.

I continued like that, from street lamp to traffic light, for a millisecond in a shop's neon sign to a backdoor's alarm system. Until finally I got within walking distance to Charring Cross Road. Dropping down to an alley I reverted to my normal state, only a few minutes had passed but I was sure that soon I'd changed back. The tricky thing was waiting and watching for anyone that might enter the alley and see me as I was. I could just as easily wait meshed into a trash can or any other trinket in here, but I wasn't sure what the consequences if stayed as I power down would be.

In the end it didn't matter. Minutes later I was walking out of the alley, fresh as a daisy and fully human. I took a deep breath, my nose glad to be able to breath as it should. Walking to the Wizarding place took no time and with Ms. Granger's help I found in seconds exactly where she said it is. From the outside it looked a bit rundown, any maintenance it might be done to it long used.

Securing my baseball cap tightly I went in. Immediately the atmosphere changed. No longer was anything electrical or bright, instead it had a small gloomy feeling with the candles high in the ceiling shining down into the room. People sat in small wooden tables, their own conversations either whispered or full blown heard.

Apprehensive I approached the barkeep. He was a balding man, with chestnut hair and a very old appearance. His clothe looked clean but ruffled from the day's work, and he had this nice welcoming smile that drew me in. Adjusting the cap once again, I came to talking distance. "Um, hi."

"Well, hello there young man, how can I help you?" she asked me with a smile.

"This is actually my first year to Hogwarts and…"

"Say no more," he interrupted me with a raised hand, "You don't have your wand yet, correct?" I nodded. "Well, let me show the way, ok?" he winked and made a 'follow along' motion. Passing the customers we headed out to a small, walled courtyard with a trash can at the end and a brick wall. Nothing else.

I looked suspiciously at the old man, but he didn't notice and walked forward. He tapped the wall three times up and two across and for a second nothing happened. I was about to whip out the watch in case this was an attack or he would kidnap me somehow recognizing me as Harry Potter, but just as I was about to the wall began to vibrate. The bricks began to move sideways, rolling and shifting and magically merging until finally they stopped

He turn to me and laugh softly at my incredulous expression, I was stupefied and overwhelmed.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Finished! Sorry for the late update! I transferred to a new University and I was accommodating myself to it. If you hadn't known I was also working for my dad, but then we had to stop the business because of some legal doohickey that the renter did that was… a bad move and I had to help him with it. Oh right, u may be asking yourself how could he help his father and move to another univ, but I live in Puerto Rico which is a small island in the Caribbean and the Universities aren't that apart.**

** There are some errors I'll get to them sometime this week and correct them. If you find any please tell me and thanks/If something sounds confusing its because i didn't edit it right, so please accept my excuse and i'll get to it as well in the following week.**

**If you haven't read it, i have another story called Heartless, its a Kingdom Hearts/Worm X-Over. If you don't know what Worm is you can find the link on my page or look it up. Its REAALLYY good and finished with a whooping 1.6 million words Its a web serial novel btw.**

Ddragon21: He's still going to school. I find that dating Tonks when she's 7 years older than him and he's younger than 17 is... bad. Not wrong, but i font think i could make it work, so no, not Tonks-girlfriend. Luna has her own special past for this story but not derailed from what we know of cannon, just things added.

Haruko Kakikomi Thank you! Glad you like it. Hope this one does as well. Also, yes im planning on maing her badass, and will try to live up to her awesomeness!

HiddenHero220: Hermione is actually older than Harry and Ron, she has her birthday in September if I'm not mistaken and as such she received her letter either after the train ride or the next summer which is this one

ww1990ww :Somewhat answered here

Guest: That's a good idea, and i think that such thing would already exist in the Wizarding world if the bubble head charm does as well.

**So Read and Review!**


	5. INTERLUDE 1

The Wizard Bearer Ch. 5

"Talking" -Normal Voices

**"Talking"** -Alien Voices

_"Talking" _Ommitrix Voice

_§Talking§ -_Parseltongue Voices

**Disclaimer: Hermione isn't old enough to be hot yet.**

* * *

The trunk closed with a finality. Everything was packed and categorized, everything in the room cleaned and placed where they should be. Going back to Diagon Alley a few times since that adventure had made the trunk and the room's bookcase full with both mundane and magical written knowledge. That moment had sparked, well, a spark, that made seeking knowledge, seeking strength all the more important.

_So I can never feel that weak again._

Yes, in fact, after that day Hermione Granger had changed. That little girl that went into a forest with whom she assumed would be her very first best friend didn't come back. That moment, that certain feeling when she felt so utterly hopeless made her see how much the world truly _sucked._

In truth, she began to see that just being her wasn't bad. She loved being herself, the quirks, the bushy hair, her love for books and her love for order, everything really. Well, except for her teeth, but that was more her parent's fault. But there were things out there that she wasn't in the least prepared to handle.

Magic came as a big shock. Suddenly knowing that she was a witch, well, it was a tough pill to swallow, even more for her parents. They weren't the ones with the abnormality, with the -possible- gene that gave her magical powers, and it dawned on them that for the first time ever they would have to learn about something completely new that their own daughter would learn firsthand in. That they themselves, the ones that had protected her for all her life, could do nothing more than watch as she strived for something that they could never realize, no matter what.

It was a humbling experience for her mother, and after all that she _was_ happy for her daughter, but like said, she worried on how her daughter would survive an entirely new world. Her father… well, she falter on how he really felt. She supposed he was proud, if only slightly. The man didn't expressively hate her magic or even McGonagall as a witch, but she felt that somehow because he hadn't expected this development for her future that something had being stolen from her. Well, for her future that he had planned.

Of course, then came Harry. If there was ever a hurricane on human form that brought 'adventures' wherever it passed, it was Harry Potter.

He hadn't liked that his family had left him behind on the camp, no matter that Harry himself had firmly defended them and tried to hide how horrible they must have really been. She _had_ asked her mother why he had done as such, but never received a straight answer for it.

And her father had found it in himself to give the young boy a small spot on his heart. It came as a surprised to her mother and her, but she guessed that having your daughter protected by a fake earthquake did that to male proud, or some such.

Then… then she had Harry tell them the truth. She stood by his side as he explained on what had really happened, how his daughter's health had been put at risk into what her father thought was a stupid boy's ignorance and recklessness.

His room's wall weren't as thick as they thought when she was curious about what they talked about that night.

And just as soon, Harry was gone.

She didn't even see him the next morning. Having woken up late, as tired as having run a marathon and her muscles so tense she thought they could be sculpted. Her mother just keep staring ahead, some imaginary point of dirt over the wall. Never answering her questions until her dad came and sat down with her.

He tried to explain it to her. A bunch of insincere and, for her, stupid reasons, but what stuck most on her head wasn't that, but Harry's words. How he had asked her to keep it a secret, to let it stay between them and together work it out, everything.

Such things raised her ego, even if that wasn't his goal. To have a friend that trusted you and wanted you to help them because they couldn't think of one other person to whom they could go to? It was exhilarating. Never mind that neither had any other friends.

And she failed him. She should have listened to him, trust him. No matter that Harry was someone she had met less than five days ago. For her first and probably only friend she could have done it.

The days and weeks after that were a tense affair. For whatever had to do with her magical education, her parents complied. Taking her at every chance to visit to the Alley. She suspected it was a way for them -more especially her dad- to make it to her, but frankly, she didn't give a damn.

Like a grumpy cat, she hardly hemmed or hawed, but gave them an almost frosty treatment. They couldn't understand how badly they had failed her, how the bastions of light and justice she saw them as dimmed and fell. Her respect for them had taken a mighty blow.

On her own, she went and studied everything she could get her hands on, even things that a First Year like her wouldn't need or possibly understand. At least that's what the bookshop's employees thought, a true Ravenclaw to them apparently. But it wasn't just magic, no. She also looked for, or ordered via mail, books as was tradition with her family.

Except this kinds of books were scientific, more than a normal sixth grader would ever put the effort in. She didn't understand a peep from most of them, expanding her understanding as fast she read, but she was nothing if not diligent. And a fast reader. Books almost eaten by the days and knowledge wedged inside her accumulated with no sign of stopping.

Besides, knowing what she knew now about the worlds around her, both magical and extraterrestrial, she would be a fool to never reach within herself and aspire to make advancements on everything that could come to harm her.

It wouldn't be now, or even in her second year ...and if she was being pessimistic neither her third year, but Hermione was sure that she would learn. Learn everything she could about science and magic and when anyone tried to ever hurt her again, well, she would be ready.

She finished packing her stuff, the room looking a bit in disarray but she was sure her mother would help her in the morning. Even if both weren't as close as the start of summer neither ever liked messy or disorganized rooms.

That night she slept fitfully. Dreams and nightmares plagued her, none ever lasting long yet always interchanging. It had been this way ever since that day, and although her parents had only noticed for the first few days, she had come to silence her cries. Whatever she felt at them at the moment, she still didn't want them to worry over her.

There were shadows in her eyes that morning and when her mother asked, she simply replied that she was too excite to go to sleep that night, staying up against her own judgment. She didn't know if her mother believed her excuse, but, as it was, in a few hours it probably wouldn't matter.

It was strange to her, as they rode towards the station, how little it seemed to lie to her parents. How little it meant in the long run, and it worried her that she would continue in that path. Leaving things aside when they asked for her well-being wasn't something she wanted, and if she was truthful telling lies was more of a spur of the moment thing, one that had -admittedly- lasted a month or so , but one she would definitely stop as soon as the trip to Hogwarts ended.

She could only think how in the future how awful it would be if she would lost contact with her parents and it stayed like this, and ultimately this wasn't what she wanted. So, with resolution she decided to start at the earliest opportunity.

Her parents were uneasily quiet, and an awkward silence began to fall in the car. She quickly tried to think of anything that might help her, but came up blank. It frustrated her to know that her parents were probably thinking and agonizing over the fact that she would be gone for so long and here she was unable to even voice her thoughts.

Almost immediately tears of frustration swell up, and she held on, for fear they would get the wrong impression. Unfortunately, not even a minute later her mother had heard as her voiced hitch, recognizing her daughters sounds, her motherly instinct flaring within seconds.

She signaled her husband to stop and not even before he was finished she was already over the seats, throwing her hands around her daughter and comforting her as only she could.

Soothing words and grateful promises on both sides.

She stayed there with her mother, some words escaped her, her few fears she had, and how she felt about not seeing Harry again, she took the opportunity as it came, just like she promised herself. Her father was mostly silent, only throwing a sentence here or there on the journey but none were dismissed. This were the last few words she would hear from him, and like a class on her favorite subject she took them to her heart and mind, holding them in until she never forgot them.

When they arrived at the station, she wiped her tears, a smile that seemed truer than earlier in her summer.

One both her parents were happy to see.

She got out of the car, grabbed her trunk and followed after her father. Her mother on her side helping her with the few things she hadn't put on the trunk, after it would be weird if her family was seen with just the trunk, their use lost to the public years ago in favor of the suitcases. True, they didn't plan on stopping and talking to people that asked about it, but even then.

She saw a few students, muggleborns, the same as her, that were either first years like her or higher up, but a few things made them stand up around the populace that filled the insides of the station. The trunks, for one, were indistinguishable. Some carried pets, owls, others cats -which she wished had, but sadly her mother was slightly allergic to them- and a boy with a toad. Why he chose such disgusting creature she'd never know. The boy actually looked a bit different from the other ones, actually.

For one he was with his grandmother, one that looked grand and regal from just the way she stood by his side, even if she was wearing that awful stuffed vulture over her head. But it wasn't just that. The way he looked around the place. No small amount of wonder and awe, confused looks sent towards simple objects, like a newspaper stand or technological things. His ignorance was noticeable and the understanding that he must be one of those pure-bloods came to her. The thought of how the pure-bloods acted made her twitch her nose in distaste, but seeing how the boy acted perhaps not all were the same.

She pointed them up to her parents, silently making them understand that they follow the family of two. The boy in front of her kept asking his grandmother things about his surroundings, their voices so low even a few feet away from them she couldn't hear them even straining her ear. She answered every one he had, although she always took a second or two to answer them.

Finally they arrived at the Nine and Three-Quarters column. Her fears that it wouldn't work or she had been deceived dispelled as she saw the stern woman explain something to the awkward looking boy and usher him forward. He took a tentative step forward and a fearful look towards her, before a sharp nod from her made him look back to it. His shoulders squared, tensed as he pushed his cart forward.

She held her breath. Fearful he would crashed she almost closed her then and there, but she shouldered on, watching in wonder as one second he was there and the next gone. She hadn't actually seen him going in. Somehow, a person crossing exactly at that moment blinding her from his passage. She found it confusing and strikingly suspicious when his grandmother made the same and passed only for the same to happen again. A spell.

Magic.

In such a public space? How courageous of them. Or perhaps they simply felt no non-magical would ever notice, passing each time someone crossed ignorant of the veil between both worlds To the wizards credit they did have the entering point of their whole market on one of the most traffic-filled streets of London.

It must have come with some sort of confounding spell, or some such that she had read, so that it went pass people's heads.

No matter. She could research it later, once she was in Hogwarts…

She turned towards her parents, giving them what would probably her last glance in months, just until winter. Her parents were already ahead of her. Her father's arm circling her mother's shoulder, supporting her frame as she leaned on him. Tears were on both their eyes, and it seemed for a moment, that it might had just being the worst mistake of her life if she was leaving her parents, making them cry.

But she knew it wasn't exactly like that. Whatever else, they were proud of her, and supportive of any choice she made, confident that she would do them well. After all, they thought her well.

Her mother came forward, hugging her so hard she felt the air leave her lungs. Her father in contrast, only put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly, it didn't matter, really. His eyes were emotional enough that she understood how strongly he felt seeing her go that he's normally public strong masked cracked. Just a little.

No words were spoken between them. The car ride alone and now this… well, it was a good enough of a good bye for them.

_No, not a good bye, _she thought to herself, _A see you later._

She turned back to the column. Magic and wonders behind it. Mystical knowledge and wonderful secrets waiting for her. Friends… Yes, it was the right thing.

She squared her shoulders, fear never entering her mind. She had seeing someone passed without problems. Two magicals. It would do the same for her. The doubt that she wouldn't have enough magic, as crazy as it sounded to her, had been long dispelled.

The initial slowness of her carrier made her huffed, but with little work it continued to roll, giving her almost a scare as she felt it going too far from her, but she quickly corrected herself. In seconds she was in front of the wall and with no hesitation she pushed on.

Just as suddenly it was over.

She felt a tingling sensation pass her and the slightest feeling she had been judged. It was minuscule and if she hadn't been completely immersed in what she felt, in trying to document everything she saw to memory it would have never registered. She had an inkling to what it was, and knowing that she had passed the falsely-impenetrable wall made her feel happy.

What she saw next was a simple platform. If!, it had paper airplanes flying for more than could be believed, people levitating trunks from the platform into the train, families strewn around the whole platform dressed in some absurdly dresses and some children already dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms! Magic was everywhere, people showing spells and tricks and quirks and newspapers that were all obviously _not normal._ Honestly? It surprised her. It wasn't at all like Diagon Alley where people were more interested in going about in their shopping and hardly watching as others made use of their wands or pets or magic.

It was in a part exhilarating, like being back to a younger age and watching from how chocolates were made. Well, when her mother made them.

Sometimes being a dentist's child wasn't that fun.

Not wanting to stand in the middle of incoming students, she stepped out of the way, just in time too, as a pair of red-headed twins came in one after the other. They had this mischievous grins that set off warning alerts in her head and she quickly stepped to the side unless she garnered their attention.

She watched them for a second before going the opposite way.

Not knowing anyone, or caring for that at the moment, she immediately got on the train. There would be enough time on the trip or even in the school for friends. _A whole year,_ she thought now nervously. Would they like her, hate her? Would she be able to make friends as fast as she had done with Harry, or just like Harry would she break her friendships because of her mistakes?

She didn't know and thinking about it made her mood sour. She shook her head as if doing so would shake off those awful thoughts, and like magic she distracted herself with the interiors of the train. It seemed that again magic had impressed her. Outside the train looked no more than a five coach express, not that big she had imagined, or possibly connected not needed. It was her though that maybe not all students took the King Cross Station's one, after all, there must be students that live in Scotland or even closer to Hogwarts than the platform. Indeed it seemed silly to travel south just to use the train going back up north, but even so, the numbers for those that did use it, she didn't think in the beginning they would all fit.

Now she understood that with magic almost anything was possible. Case in point, while the coaches were normal-sized on the outside, on the inside there existed more than thrice the space that could be imagined. Indeed, magic was amazing.

The corridor stretched on her right side, compartments large enough to hold six or eight students on her left. To her back, the corridors ran all the way back to the conductor's quarter. Being on the third coach, she hardly thought of going to the first ones. Besides, she had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ that the Prefects, those that in their fifth year got a whole sort of responsibility, stayed in the first few ones, and most upper years as well. She had enough experience with older students to know they never liked to interact with the younger ones -even if they themselves were ones. She would never be like that, she promised herself. Anyone that ever needed her help -and obviously wasn't for stupid or bad things- would find it in her.

Many compartments had already been filled, with many or just one or two students, but she didn't want to ask for entry in either. An empty one was all she needed. If someone came to hers, then she could veto them, maybe talk to them and afterwards simply decide whether she wanted them there for the rest of the trip. It was simpler that way, less of a hassle too.

Finally she found one, closer to the end of the third coach's tail. Without preamble she got in, closed the window curtains, and crashed into the seat. Her trunk laid there in the middle but she could levitate it whenever she wanted, Hogwarts' jurisdiction effectively presiding in the express the moment she got in. Luckily, because while she had practiced her wand motions and theoretical knowledge all summer, perhaps here she could find out how good she was.

Anticipating changing into the Hogwarts robes, she did it then, finding that perhaps people would regard her better if they saw her as a diligent girl and ready for the school. That it also conveyed none of her muggle clothes was a bonus. Knowing how some wizards treated her type she knew that her best bet of knowing how others would react to her was to let them voice their thoughts in what they'd think was a none judgmental area.

As soon as she was done, she lifted the curtains and performed the wand motions for the levitation charm. Once, twice, thrice, and one last with the book open for just in case.

Taking a deep breath she reached for her magic.

The books had all explained how to connect to magic. Indeed, one or two spoke almost the same thing and although none actually explained _what_ magic was, just that it existed since wizards could remember -something she was a bit miffed about, knowing they were never interested in knowing- and all they could tell her was to reach deep inside her, to look for that special connection that only she could feel like no one else. Some say that meditation was key to finding more about one's magic and consequently one's self, but she'd never have the patience for it.

Some books were more spiritual. Telling her that magic would know when it was to be used, and that one's wand -a magical core in its one way- would reach as well for that particular fountain of power. _That_ she could believe a little, having always thought that the laws of conservation of energy applied to all things -and since her letter arrived to magic as well. Her wand, made of vine and dragon heartstring core, was made for learning, at least that was what the wandmaker had said_. _

_Flamboyant and powerful, yes… but for someone hoping to learn all they can, its invaluable. Priceless. But be careful Miss Granger, that although it is to the caster's whims, this wands can also lean heavily towards the Dark Arts, and trust me, someone like you would never wish to go down that path._

She had shivered at those words, believing them without a doubt. Ollivander was someone that had lived for possibly the lifespan of both her parents and probably more. Her parents were horrified in their own rights, and rightfully wary of letting her practice, always there with her watching. She didn't mind at the time, and in the privacy of her own mind, welcomed them. The secrets of magic and her own wand were still unknown for her and even the small comments she had garnered from books about the Dark Magic left her sleepless for hours into the night the day she read them.

For a second she thought she felt something, a strange connection to something foreign and familiar, forever hers and something she never knew she could handle. It was lost just as soon, but in minutes she found it again. Remembering the strange sensation she had just felt and all those times she had done accidental magic, those feelings she had at the moment were what caused her spells and mishaps, but now made the connection all the more easier.

She reached for it, drew her breath, and locked her arm and swished just as she spoke the incantation 'Wingardium Leviosa'. It was successful! On her first try, no less! The trunk rose slowly just as her hand and will demanded. Carefully she raised it above her head and when in position pushed it with her free hand towards the rack. Letting go of the spell, she lowered her hand, suddenly drained. Not by much, but for her it was very noticeable.

A small nap sounded good right about now.

* * *

An overhead voice roused her, startling her and almost making her jump of the bench. Rubbing her eyes off she tried to listen to the message that repeated itself without no speakers in the room.

It was repeating it herself that she understood. They were arriving.

Quickly she clambered off and took her trunk of the rack. Only when she turned around did she notice she wasn't alone. A boy no older than her was sit on the opposite chair, his head clanking against the window. As dozed as he was she didn't think he had heard the announcement.

He was a bit on the chubby side, with a round face, and teeth that slightly parted his lips. He was a bit shorter than her from what she could see, but then again she had already started her growth spurt. He was still in his personal clothes, clean-cut trousers with a sharp outlook. It went completely different with how gentle he looked. Not that he looked weak, but more like he looked like a soft-natured person and the suit contrasted highly with it. As if the suit was ready for the coming challenge but his face, his posture somehow conveyed to her his insecurity.

As a fellow student she had no dilemma in waking him up, for all she knew she would spend many years in the future with him, studying and learning. Perhaps they might come about to become great friends, and at the moment, that was something she was looking very much for.

He awoke slowly, like one of those persons that was glued to their pillows, but once she gave him a strong shake or two, he was firmly roused. He apologized, walking in without her approval wasn't what he wanted, but she was asleep and he couldn't find any other place that would let him in. She understood, and privately saw a bit of herself in him. He was shy, incredibly so, but a hidden courage must have been there for him to enter her compartment.

She got out for a moment, letting him change into his robes. While out there she saw as other students were already out of their own compartments. Many boys and girls, all older than her, but none as much as she had expected. The United Kingdom had a population of something over fifty million, expecting that at least two or three percent of the wizarding world was part of it -_or added to it-_ then she expected at least fifteen thousand people in total, but here, well if she saw over a hundred, it was too much.

Perhaps she was wrong, or was counting wrong, or simply didn't have a good grasp of how this world went by, but to her this was something she didn't fully understand.

Her door opened again, and the boy's head came through, murmuring he was done. She nodded, and giving one more glance to her surroundings fully opened the door. Suddenly he raised his voice, yelling 'Trevor!' and almost throwing himself at her feet. She jumped back, looking wildly down. She caught it at the edge of her vision, a moving jumping, green slimy toad.

She recognized that toad. It was the one from the boy she saw in the station. The one with a grandmother with a vulture hat. She couldn't believe that she didn't connect the dots sooner. Berating herself for that slip-up she acted quickly, the only action she could think of that would help him was taking out her wand and pointing at the toad.

The boy saw her and for some reason horrified yelled at her to stop. Too late she casted the spell, only used twice in her life, and practiced to many times to count, the Levitation spell shot off her wand. Nothing connected to the toad, no ray or colors emanated from her wand, perhaps as a sign of its simplicity to use, but she knew the moment the toad stopped mid air that it had been casted successfully.

She smiled to herself, pleased that it worked. Careful in maintaining the spell, she moved it around and into the boy's hand… she really had to learn his name. He seemed a bit dismayed, but she couldn't understand why exactly. He gave it a quick look-over and sighed in relief, whatever he thought might have been wrong with it imagined.

She looked at him, expecting a thank you, but when he didn't -as he was still fawning over the toad- she huffed and passed him by, none too gently. Some people had no manners.

Minutes afterward the train stopped.

She waited until most students left the coach, their bickering and hustling annoyed her a bit. Hadn't they learned to be orderly in getting out of the train? Well, no matter. With only a few now lagging she got out of the compartment, the silence stifling in there. The boy had later thanked her, but he became as shy as she was and neither found any way to speak. He followed out of the train, he's trunk hardly carving into the ground. In fact, no doubt it was magic that made it look like he was barely pushing himself.

The September air was cold, biting into her hands and bones. Times like this she wished she learned the warming charm's instructions better, but unfortunately it was a fourth year spell and she didn't feel confident enough to not botch it up. The second year students and upwards left towards a small path down the road and a tall man was left calling the ones in her year.

Closer she could see that her thoughts about tall might have been understated. The man was gigantic! To his side she felt like toothpick ready to be plucked out. He wore poor man's clothes yet carried himself humbly, like he wasn't bothered by it, which she could believe, after all who would dare mess with him? Yet when he greeted her and the other kids he did it with such gentleness that it surprised her, though she hid it as best as she could.

He counter them all, a bit over forty, and gave them some rules before moving on. It seemed on everyone's mind that they were all waiting for him to finish so that they could get out of the rapidly cooling night. She wondered then if she would see Harry. If every student was counted for then it stood to reason that he would as well, and hopefully he would be there, if only so she could apologize to him. Even if he didn't want to be friends anymore, no matter how much the thought saddened her, she felt it was what she had to do.

She didn't find him, but admittedly she was highly distracted by the man that called himself Rubeus Hagrid, Hagrid for short. The gamekeeper he called himself, and she could see why someone like him might be named for such position. Whatever his personality was really like his intimidating stature would surely keep others in check.

The gigantic man finish talking, and with a lively laugh jostled them towards the boats, ones that were actually in the opposite direction as to where the upper years went. Perhaps, she mused to herself, it was some sort of ceremony. There was no doubt that in the Wizarding World there was a sense of tradition and monotone practice. They weren't backwards, far from it, she knew that wizards had long memories and an even longer lifespan, and the idea that they could change as fast as normal people was ludicrous.

She had had a teacher cover -to what she understood was a little amount- the Industrial Revolution, and it was discussed in her class how much of it may have been over how short people's lives were. How many realized that with all the wars and all the plagues and shortages of food, carving for themselves a small part of history was to be made as soon as possible, otherwise they would be left to dust in the winds of the past. At least it was a small part that she felt was true.

Wizards didn't suffer from such a fate. Resilient to most mundane maladies, and saved by spells crafted to cure them from magical ones, they lived in a relatively safe and comfortable pace that no non-magical would have possibly dreamed off. They took their time, and she understood that. Didn't like it, but she understood it. It was moreover a small part of her quest for knowledge, she wanted to help push it along, not in terms of customs and tradition, for she hardly knew them, but for that sense of yet to be discover knowledge that hid in the most astounding of ways and have it brought forth so that it all could smooth the progress of the centuries for their society as a whole.

Hagrid took her and the other to a close shore, where slipping and sliding on the September moist path small boats were reined in at the end. There were more than enough for all of us, yet Hagrid call them to four per boat, but she didn't know where to put her luggage, in fact none of the other children had theirs to their sides. Suddenly she colored in embarrassment. Was it possible that they were supposed to leave them in the train? Neville -the boy had rounded the courage to introduce himself as they walked- looked around and notice the same thing. He shot her a desperate look, unable to figure out what to do, but she was no closer to figuring it out herself.

Being the last two in the group meant that as soon as everyone was seated and didn't know why they weren't moving they would see them, and the embarrassment from that would promptly send her into hysterics. Already, she could feel herself panic.

An idea came to mind and as discreetly as she could she stepped to the side of the group so that the humble gamekeeper could see her. She waited for a few moments and once his gaze came around to her side, she signaled him to come. He perhaps looked confused as to what she wanted and she could see the gears in his mind about to whether call out or come to her side. Luckily, the man had some sense of discreetness and as he ordered the rest to sit in the boats he ambled to her and Neville's side.

A quick explanation and with an understanding smile he tapped their trunks with an umbrella -and why did he not have a wand, did he need something as big as that umbrella to use his magic?- and the trunks were whisked away. She gaped at the show of magic, unable to believe how an object like her trunk could just _swish _out of her eyes.

How it must have been transported through space -and possibly time- she didn't know. Well, she suspected it had to do with one of the Fundamental Laws of Magic that she had studied all throughout the summer which stated that at any time an object was moved by magic there was unseen force at work, which was redundantly called Magic (and god that sounded stupid to her), that took hold of the object and pushed, took hold of, stopped and did just about everything specified with the intentions of the witch or wizard, though through the Fourth it was stated that any action a magical user did would only be able to happen if their magical energy was actually up to par with what was needed. Which actually sounded a bit like Newt-

Oh the boats were waiting for her and she was just standing there like an idiot, and everyone was looking at her- and oh, she should just get on the boat…

Embarrassed, she ducked her head as she got in with Neville on the last open space, no one else was with them, but with what just happened she dearly needed no one else.

As such she only whipped up her head once she heard a collective gasp from all her other classmates. The murmurs of wonder too great for her to ignore she raised her eyes and not disappointed.

Majestic. That was the prime word she thought of as she saw it. Nothing short of majestic was all she could attach as an adjective. With its seven towers all protruding from the building in such ways that she was sure that even now the millennia old magic kept it together. From even there she could see the highly glittering windows that sparked livelihood and wonder. Even from there she could feel it in the air as magic flooded the castle and sent her this welcoming feeling. Like having being away from home for a long time and her mother would just be standing there, with her arms wide open and welcoming, no words needed and just happy to know that she was back.

It was strange that she felt as so. Was it perhaps the magic that had flooded the castle for millennia giving this flavor, this sense of welcoming that made her feel so at welcomed?

She almost felt that there Magic wouldn't refuse her. That she could be as free as she wanted, and no one, certainly not students or teachers, could ever make that feeling go away.

She basked in it, even as they arrived and docked into and underground harbor. Many of her fellow students quickly got out, even as she and Neville took their time. She noticed, that as she had done, he had a face of wonder, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, what he was feeling. He had felt it, just as her, of that she was sure, and she wouldn't lie if that made her feel better about it all.

Hagrid hurried them off the boats, none in an orderly fashion or control, until he got to the castle's doors. Big and splendid, the doors must have been at least four times Hagrid's stature. He knocked using his gigantic fist and for three times she heard it rumble into the wood. Each brought a more determination to herself. He studies in magic were about to begin, she would study with people of her own age, that truly understood all her strange behaviors and accidental magic. Where she would have wonderful friends and with any luck she would _not_ make an enemy out of others, where the teachers would be able to explain to her in all the details that she could ask. It was time for a new beginning.

The castle door opened.


End file.
